As the nation processes another mass shooting, gun control groups, lawmakers, and other public figures were demanding on Tuesday that Congress finally say “enough is enough” and pass legislation to keep assault weapons and high-capacity magazines out of the hands of civilians—but many expressed concern that as the country has seen with other mass shootings, nothing would change.
Twenty-three firearms were found in the hotel room where Stephen Paddock carried out the shooting Sunday night, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500. While automatic weapons are effectively banned in the U.S., some exceptions allow civilians to obtain them. It’s also possible—and legal in some cases—to modify semi-automatic weapons, making them capable of firing hundreds of rounds in under a minute. There is currently no federal ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines.
While investigators are still determining the specifics of how Paddock obtained his weapons, gun control advocates say it’s time to talk about legislation that could prevent the next mass shooting.
In a video for GQ, journalist Keith Olbermann called for the National Rifle Association to be designated a “terrorist organization” for its non-negotiable defense of the Second Amendment, a law that was written “to keep the federal government from taking away the right of each state to maintain its own militia” but has become “an excuse for why madmen of whatever heritage or political purpose cannot be stopped from carrying at least 10 long rifles into a hotel room in Las Vegas and setting up a sniper’s nest and killing people.”
But writing in the New York Times, former Democratic congressman Steve Israel wrote about his experience watching his colleagues take no meaningful action after mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and Orlando, Florida—largely due to their subservience to the powerful gun lobby.
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