‘Time is now,’ Giffords tells gun-control backers, critics

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting that killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. two years ago, arrives at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, hand-in-hand with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, to discuss what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence in the wake of last month's shooting rampage at that killed 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting that killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. two years ago, arrives at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, hand-in-hand with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, to discuss what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence in the wake of last month's shooting rampage at that killed 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

— Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Wednesday that “the time is now” for Congress to take action on guns as shooting victims, lawmakers and gun-rights advocates met face to face for the first time since the Dec. 14 killings in Newtown, Conn.

“Speaking is difficult, but Ineed to say something important,” Giffords said in a strong though halting voice at the start of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something,” she said.

“It will be hard, but the time is now,” said Giffords. “You must act. Be bold, be courageous. Americans are counting on you.” Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, wasshot in the head at pointblank range during a constituent event in Tucson on Jan. 8, 2011.

Congress is debating ways to curb gun violence after a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown killed 20 children and six school employees. President Barack Obama backs a ban on sales of assault weapons, a proposal that faces opposi-tion in Congress.

Wednesday’s hearing centered on the efficacy of background checks more than on initiatives to limit assault weapons or their high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Judiciary Committee chairman, led Democrats in asking gun advocates to explain why they oppose a stronger background-check system to keep assault weapons out of the hands of criminals.

Wayne LaPierre, chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association, and Republicans including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas countered by saying that current laws aren’t being properly enforced.

“We’ve got to get in the real world on what works and what doesn’t work,” LaPierre said.

“You miss the point completely,” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat, told LaPierre. A stronger background-check policy will keep criminals from getting guns in the first place, he said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, has introduced a bill to ban certain assault weapons and limit magazines to 10 rounds.

“We can’t have a totally armed society,” said Feinstein, whose bill would ban 158 types of assault weapons. It would exempt more than 2,000 weapons by make and model, she said.

LaPierre said solutions that work include teaching responsible gun ownership, armed security in schools and prosecuting criminals.

More gun-control laws are “not a serious solution to reducing crime” while existing laws aren’t enforced, he said. In 2011, federal weapons prosecutions per capita were down 35 percent from their peak during the previous administration, he said.

“Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals,” LaPierre said. “Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families.”

He said poor enforcement is “a national disgrace.”

Another witness at the hearing was Mark Kelly, an astronaut and the husband of Giffords, a three-term lawmaker who resigned from Congress a year ago to focuson her recovery.

Kelly and Giffords founded a gun-control advocacy group called Americans for Responsible Solutions.

In 15 seconds, the man who shot Giffords emptied a magazine containing 33 bullets. He was tackled as he attempted to reload.

Kelly urged strengthening the background-check system, saying 80 percent of criminals reported obtaining their weapons through private sales with no such checks.

“Gabby is a gun owner, and I’m a gun owner,” Kelly told the committee. “The breadth and complexity of the problem of gun violence is great,but it is not an excuse for inaction.”

“Dangerous people with weapons specifically designed to inflict maximum lethality upon others have turned every corner of our society into places of carnage and gross human loss,” Kelly said.

After the hearing, Giffords and Kelly met privately with Obama at the White House.

Jim Johnson, police chiefin Baltimore County, Md., pressed for requiring background checks for all firearms purchases, limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds and renewing the 1994 assaultweapon ban that expired in 2004.

Johnson, who has been in law enforcement for 35 years, said he has “seen an explosion in firepower” since the assault-weapons ban expired and that “victims are being riddled with multiple gunshots.” He said “high-capacity magazines are not used for hunting” and “do not belong in our homes.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said having a 15-round magazine “can make the differencein protecting a family” that is facing more than one attacker.

Leahy, in his opening statement, advocated a stronger background check policyfor gun buyers.

Gun-store owners in Vermont “wonder why others who sell guns do not have to follow the same protective rules,” Leahy said. “Why should we not try to plug theloopholes in the law” that allow criminals and the mentally ill to buy guns without background checks, he asked.

“What responsible gun owner objects” to a background-check system, Leahy said. At the same time, he said, the Second Amendment, which guarantees a right to bear arms, “will remain secure.”

None of the Republicans appeared to endorse tightening background checks during the hearing. The committee’s top Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, said “we all want sensible actions.” He did not advocate any specific new measures related to guns.

“The deaths in Newtown should not be used to put forward every gun-control measure that’s been floating around for years,” Grassley said. “The problem is greater than guns alone.”

He cited a re-examination of mental-health laws and violent video games. Grassley said limits on high-capacity magazines “can be circumvented by carrying more guns.”

Democrats said a need to improve gun restrictions is obvious. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said omitting gun limits from the debate “is like not including cigarettes when discussing lung cancer.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined others in lauding Giffords but expressed little interest in curbing firearms.

“Unfortunately in Washington, emotion I think often leads to bad policies,” said Cruz, a freshman elected with strong Tea Party backing. He said gun-control efforts too often “restrain the libertiesof law-abiding citizens,” not criminals.

LaPierre repeatedly sidestepped questions about the NRA’s position on whether background checks should be required for purchases at gun shows.

“The fact is the law right now is a failure” because it isn’t being enforced, and criminals aren’t being prosecuted, said LaPierre. States also aren’t providing the records of the mentally ill, he said.

Giffords’ assailant purchased his gun legally and underwent a background examination, though it didn’t cover evidence “that would have prevented him from buying a gun through a backgroundcheck system,” Kelly said.

After Giffords spoke, her husband gently guided her from the table, then returned to fill in the picture.

“Gabby’s gift for speech is a distant memory,” Kelly said. “She struggles to walk, and she is partially blind. And a year ago, she left a job she loves, serving the people of Arizona.” Information for this article was contributed by Heidi Przybyla and Margaret Talev of Bloomberg News and by Alan Fram, Kevin Freking, David Espo and Nancy Benac of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/31/2013

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