Excerpt
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Next, the change in public attitudes and state laws when it comes to gun rights and restrictions.
It’s long been one of the most divisive issues in America. And now several families who lost loved ones in Newtown Connecticut are suing the gunmaker. The lawsuit was filed a day after the second anniversary of the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman, Adam Lanza, had already killed his mother, and ultimately shot himself to death as well.
Now families of 10 of the victims are suing the manufacturer, distributor and seller of the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that Lanza used. The suit alleges negligence and wrongful death, and argues that the rifle shouldn’t have been available to civilians because it’s a military weapon.
Nicole Hockley’s six-year-old son, Dylan, died in the Sandy Hook shooting. She’s now one of the plaintiffs, and spoke to PBS NewsHour Weekend.
NICOLE HOCKLEY, Mother of Newtown Victim: Dylan was shot five times. So if we had a 10-magazine, 10-bullet limit, you know, instead of a 30, for all I know, Dylan could be alive today.
JUDY WOODRUFF: After Newtown, the state of Connecticut did adopt some of the most restrictive gun policies in the nation. They include a ban on large-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds, background checks for all gun and ammunition purchases, and a prohibition on scores of assault-style weapons.
Overall, a San Francisco group, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says 37 states have passed nearly a hundred new gun laws since 2012. And some 200 lawmakers from all 50 states have formed an alliance against gun violence.
But gun rights advocates, including Connecticut State Representative Rob Sampson, argue that even limiting magazine capacity will not prevent tragedies like Newtown.
ROB SAMPSON (R), Connecticut State Representative: You can change a magazine in literally one second. If I was to shoot you and say, I’m about to shoot you, and I have to change magazines first, boom, I’m done, you would never get to me in time. You wouldn’t even try.
JUDY WOODRUFF: That sort of opposition has blocked congressional action on new gun legislation. And the President’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has been caught up in the debate for arguing gun violence is a serious public health issue.
For more on all this, we turn to Carroll Doherty. He’s director of political research at the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. And Joseph de Avila, who has been reporting on this and related stories for The Wall Street Journal.
COMMENT: Rob Sampson is wrong. It is true the actual changing of a magazine is very short, but he ignores the time it takes to get the magazine from where the shooter has stored it. Reaching into a pouch for a new magazine will take longer than 'one second.'
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