Tagged: Gun Control

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is renewing pressure on state lawmakers to pass a bill placing further restrictions on access to guns in the wake of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

Patrick's bill would restrict licensed gun owners to purchasing one firearm a month.

The bill would also clamp down on so-called "straw purchasers" who buy guns legally and then resell them to convicted felons and others barred from owning guns.

NYS Education Commissioner John King released a statement Friday lamenting the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut. King said, “Our schools are meant to be safe havens where children can learn, free from fear and violence.”

America's four-centuries-long political battle over gun control and the right to bear arms is the subject of Adam Winkler’s book, Gunfight. Winkler uses the landmark 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, which invalidated a law banning handguns in the nation's capital, as a springboard for a historical narrative.

What happened on Friday reminded many of us of another tragic school shooting at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999. That is the day seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher, as well as injuring 24 others.