‘These Tragedies Must End,’ Obama Says
Published: December 16, 2012 87 Comments
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The grieving in this small New England town, aired nonstop on national television, adding emotional energy to the pressure on a newly re-elected Democratic president who has largely avoided the issue during four years in the White House. Mr. Obama has long supported the restoration of the assault weapon ban, which first passed in 1994 only to set off a backlash among supporters of gun rights that helped cost Democrats control of Congress. Given that political history, he has never made a robust, sustained lobbying effort for it.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Mr. Obama prayed during the vigil for the shooting victims. More Photos »
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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, appearing on the NBC program “Meet the Press,” all but demanded that Mr. Obama confront the prevalence of firearms in the nation. Mr. Bloomberg, an independent who gave his support to the president shortly before the November election partly on the basis of gun control, bluntly said he expected more of Mr. Obama.
“It’s time for the president to stand up and lead,” he said. “This should be his No. 1 agenda. He’s president of the United States. And if he does nothing during his second term, something like 48,000 Americans will be killed with illegal guns” in the next year.
Mr. Bloomberg added that it was no longer enough that Mr. Obama shared his position on banning assault weapons. “The president has to translate those views into action,” he said. “His job is not just to be well-meaning. His job is to perform and to protect the American public.”
While the Sunday programs were filled with politicians, mainly Democrats like Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, demanding stronger gun control, supporters of gun rights were noticeably absent. David Gregory, the moderator of “Meet the Press,” said his program invited 31 senators who support gun rights to appear on Sunday. “We had no takers,” he said.
The National Rifle Association’s headquarters was closed Sunday and a spokesman could not be reached. A spokesman for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, said he had no comment, while Representative Eric Cantor, the Republican House majority leader, could not be reached.
Robert A. Levy, chairman of the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute and one of the organizers behind a Supreme Court case that in 2008 enshrined a Second Amendment right for individuals to own guns, said Sunday that with more than 250 million guns already in circulation in the United States, restrictions on new weapons would make little difference. He said by e-mail that tough gun laws did not stop a mass shooting in Norway or regular violence in places like the District of Columbia.
“I’m skeptical about the efficacy of gun regulations imposed across the board — almost exclusively on persons who are not part of the problem,” he said. “To reduce the risk of multivictim violence, we would be better advised to focus on early detection and treatment of mental illness. An early detection regime might indeed be the basis for selective gun access restrictions that even the N.R.A. would support.”
Attention focused mainly on Mr. Obama, who has shied away from a major push on gun control, even after events like the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson last year and the mass killing at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., this year. Some Democrats said the number of children involved in the Newtown massacre might change the dynamic but only if the president seizes the moment.
“Nothing’s going to happen here unless Obama decides to put it front and center,” said Steve Elmendorf, who was a top Democratic congressional aide in 1994 when lawmakers passed the now-expired assault weapon ban. “He’s not running for re-election. This is one of those moments where you have to decide, ‘I’m not going to sit here and examine the politics and I’m going to do what’s right.’ ”
In the interfaith ceremony here, clergy members quoted from Psalm 23, a Hebrew memorial chant and a Muslim prayer. The Rev. Matthew Crebbin, senior minister of the Newtown Congregational Church, said the message of the service was that “these darkest days in the life of our community will not be the final words heard from us.”
Some of the children in the audience of 1,700 clutched stuffed puppies handed out to them by the Red Cross. Some talked excitedly to one another about the coming holidays, their laughter a counterpoint to the sorrow of the service that followed.
In his 19-minute remarks, Mr. Obama said he had been reflecting on whether “we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm.” He concluded: “If we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no. We’re not doing enough.”
He concluded with biblical references and said the town reminds Americans of what should really matter. “Let the little children come to me, Jesus said, and do not hinder them,” Mr. Obama said. “For such belongs to the kingdom of Heaven.”
He then slowly read the names of the children who were killed on Friday as some in the audience sobbed, a haunting roll call of a class that will never convene again.
“God has called them all home,” the president said. “For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on.” from NEW YORK TIMES
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