Cities Across the Nation Demand Gun-Control Legislation

Susanne Posel, Contributor
Activist Post

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that Vice President Joe Biden confirmed that gun control legislation will be passed by the end of January. Menino said: “[Biden] said, ‘Tommy, I guarantee you, we’ll get it done by the end of January.’ They’re going to get it done.”

Invoking the Sandy Hook shooting as justification, Menino said: “I understand the second amendment, the right to bear arms. But I don’t understand how young kids should be able to get guns.” Menino is anxious to have legislation “moving and moving quickly.”

In Rhode Island, Providence City Councilors demanded a resolution to ban the sale, use and possession of semi-automatic guns. Seth Yurdin, Council Majority Leader explained: “Banning semi-automatic firearms is a public safety imperative. We cannot wait for another tragedy, another senseless loss of life, before we act.”

In the Twin Cities, specifically St. Paul, the local city council has requested that lawmakers “crackdown on semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines.”

Other requests mirror the national debate:

• Gun ownership restrictions for the mentally ill
• Including terror watch list to federal background checks
• Requiring background checks at gun shows
• Outlawing conversion kits, high-capacity magazines and types of rifles

Vincent Fort, Georgia State Senator has plans to introduce gun-control bills this year on types of rifles and high-capacity magazines.

Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia is recommending arming teachers in schools, while his opponent in the electoral race, Terry McAuliffe, says that there should be a one handgun purchase limit statewide.

Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has done an about-face on gun restrictions, now supporting the coming gun bans.

Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland has legislation in the works that would limit the type of gun that can be purchased in his state; restrict access to the mentally ill; on top of the assault weapons ban already implemented.

Edward Suslovic, city councilor in Portland, Oregon believes that individual states should change the laws so that towns and cities can devise their own statues on gun restrictions. Suslovic and the Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee will request that there be a bill submitted to empower cities to ban guns from government buildings.

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce is planning to allow guns on college campuses, while already permitting “employees with concealed-weapons permits to leave guns locked in their cars at work.”

Thomas Franklin, member of the Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence is asserting that officials in Washington show the nation that “grief can be turned into action” by not cowering to the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The Nevada Legislature has upheld the rights of the 2nd Amendment by passing NRS 268.418 which restricts lawmakers from stringent gun bans by stating: “No city may infringe upon those rights and powers”; except that cities may “proscribe by ordinance or regulation the unsafe discharge of firearms.”

The other side of this legislation confuses citizens who travel from jurisdiction to jurisdiction that may allow guns in one and not in another. This means that a simple pull-over could turn into an arrest on violation of the specifics of each county’s gun-ban ordinances.

Tim Burgess, Seattle City Council member has brought forward a gun-safety amendment that will seek to ban all rifles and assault weapons in 2013, as well as high-capacity ammunition magazines. Universal background checks along with micro-stamping technology would give the local police departments more accurate tracing when bullets are fired from a gun.

The proposal passed unanimously. Bruce Harrell, another council member, requested a special committee to oversee authority to cities on gun regulations comprised of police, prosecutors, public-health workers and youth advocates.

House Representative Marcy Toepel wants to have laws in place to control “straw purchasers” who buy guns and supply them to criminals, inspired by officer Brad Fox who was killed by a straw-purchased gun.

Susanne Posel is the Chief Editor of Occupy Corporatism. Our alternative news site is dedicated to reporting the news as it actually happens; not as it is spun by the corporately funded mainstream media. You can find us on our Facebook page .