Michael Bennet after shooting: McConnell must act

[DonViejo]

By MATTHEW CHOI 06/02/2019 09:45 AM EDT

Following a deadly shooting in Virginia Beach, Sen. Michael Bennet renewed calls for national background checks — but expressed doubt Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would allow such legislation to go anywhere in the Senate.

"We should pass those background checks," the Colorado Democrat said on ABC‘s “This Week” on Sunday. "Ninety percent of the American people support it. But we know what's going to happen, which is the House has passed it, Mitch McConnell will not allow it to come to a vote in the Senate, and we will not have national background checks."

A gunman entered a public government building in Virginia Beach on Friday, killing 12 people; he was killed during a firefight with police. The shooter was a municipal employee who worked in the building and had purchased the firearms legally, Police Chief James Cervera said on ABC on Sunday. He also used a sound suppressor, which could make the gun shots difficult to hear throughout the building.

Bennet — who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 — mentioned that after the 1999 shootings in Columbine High School, his home state passed legislation to close loopholes that allowed criminals to purchase guns. He added that there were no legal barriers for the gunman in Virginia to acquire the weapons he used.

Bennet urged McConnell (R-Ky.) to advance legislation for national background checks, adding that it's "impossible" to argue Colorado is not safer after passing its post-Columbine measures. He also said the president "can make a difference" in bringing gun control to the forefront of Congress' agenda.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/02/virginia-beach-shooting-michael-bennet-mcconnell-1349639

[Historic NY]

1. What you should be asking is why he used a silencer to muffle the sounds of his 45's going off.

How was this ever allowed? Did it increase the body count? People were saying they knew something was going on but the sound was muffled.

[DarthDem]

2. This Is an Excellent Point

. . . and should be repeated by Democrats everywhere, not just Sen. Bennet and not just on gun control.

Each time we are confronted by any sort of matter that could be addressed by Congressional action, the Democrats in the House should pass corrective measures, then every Democrat should ceaselessly talk to every press outfit that will listen to note that we could fix the problem, but McConnell has the unabridged power to block legislation and will not permit it to come up for a vote in the Senate.

This should concentrate people's attention on the fact that *McConnell* and *Republicans* are the ones blocking any legislation from improving people's lives. I bet some, maybe many, potential voters are not aware that one senator in the majority can effectively shut down the entire federal government.

We have, what, seven Senate Democrats (including, for purposes of this argument, Sen. Sanders as a Democrat) running for president? (I may have forgotten someone.) They should be talking about this night and day and fixing blame where it properly belongs. With Mitch McConnell.

Good for Senator Bennet. Bravo!!

[Eyeball_Kid]

3. Turtle is an NRA man. He hasn't gotten permission, so the answer is NO.

Bennet must be in Dreamland. Turtle doing something for the Common Good is like wishing for pigs to fly. I'm not certain that Turtle would promote gun control legislation of any kind even if the NRA approved of it. Turtle's knee-jerk reaction to any kind of humanitarian measure is always the same: no.