Gun control groups fight for federal law changes


WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — Organizations that support more gun control measures say people are becoming desensitized to gun violence in the United States.

They want to keep the attention on recent incidents, like the mass shooting in Virginia Beach.

Pro-gun control groups and Democratic lawmakers want to ban high-capacity magazines and specific types of weapons federally. Proposals are met with resistance from Republican lawmakers.

The anti-gun violence organization now known as Brady, said it’s mind-boggling how quickly attention fades away from mass shootings. 

The organization wants to keep the conversation going about last month’s Virginia Beach shooting, where police said the gunman used high-capacity magazines.

They’re used often in mass shootings because the shooters want to shoot as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time as possible,” Brady President Kristin Brown said. 

Magazine clips that hold more than 10 rounds were once illegal under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, but Congress allowed the law to expire.

Some states have since passed their own laws to regulate the magazines. 

Brown said overall, states with stricter gun laws see positive results. 

Democrats in Congress have proposed bills to once again regulate assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines but Republican lawmakers say that won’t accomplish much. 

“You can take two clips, you can use them side by side and then you’ve just doubled the magazines by having them attach to one another,” said. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota).

Rounds argued there are more effective ways to reduce gun violence.

“We’ve got to have good mental health screenings and we’ve got to have appropriate judicial oversight,” he said.

He said that oversight should ensure guns can be taken away from people who aren’t supposed to have them. 


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