Update on Gun Control

Dear Friends,

As I hope you recall, Representative McCarthy (D. NY) introduced a bill to limit the excess capacity magazines used in the Arizona massacre earlier this year.  It is H.R. 308.  It has a mere 80 co-sponsors.  I am happy to say that my Representative Keith Ellison as well as neighboring Representative Betty McCullom are both co-sponsors.  Much to my surprise and regret, Representative Tim Walz who is a good progressive but in a difficult district is not a co-sponsor.  I will once again encourage him to become a co-sponsor.  A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Lautenberg (D. NJ) as S. 32.  There are only ten co-sponsors in the Senate.  I am once again happy to say that one of my Senators, Franken, has become a co-sponsor.  Unfortunately, my other Senator, Klobuchar, has not become a co-sponsor.  She is a former county prosecutor who should certainly be in favor of such a ban.  She is, however, afraid to take positions that somebody might disagree with.  I will have to again encourage her to become a co-sponsor.

Now that you have the bill numbers it is easy to find out if your Representative and Senators have become co-sponsors.  You can go to the OpenCongress website (here).  If we all make sure that our Representatives and Senators are co-sponsors, maybe even this baby step of gun control can get past.  As Lawrence O'Donnell on MSMBC has said, he blames the first 10 bullets on the shooter and the next 21 on the law. 

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal