“I believe every American has Second Amendment rights. The ability to hunt is part of our culture. I have an NRA rating of an ‘A,’ but enough is enough,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told WBBT, a local CNN affiliate in Richmond yesterday, following the tragic shootings in Newtown, Conn. on Friday.
“The status quo isn’t acceptable,” Warner said Monday according to the Washington Post. “I’ve got three daughters. They asked me on Friday evening, ‘Dad, what are you gonna do about this?’ There’s got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition.”
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, a lifetime NRA member another A-rated politician, said he was open to an assault rifle ban on Morning Joe yesterday.
“Seeing the massacre of so many innocent children has changed everything,” he said. “Everything has to be on the table.”
Red-state, NRA-supported politicians speaking in favor of gun control will have a lot more effect on the debate than someone like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been very vocal in his support of gun control for years, said Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough
“A guy like Joe Manchin that grew up in this culture, that understands this culture, will be able to say, ‘hey everyone, here’s the deal, they’re not coming for our guns, I’ll be the first to stand in the way of my door and not let the government come for my guns or your guns, but I don’t have a 10 mm Glock cause when I take my kids or grandkids out deer hunting, I don’t need a Glock or a Bushmaster to take them down or protect my house” Scarborough said. “These are the people who will sway the debate.” Harry Reid, D-Nev., a politician the NRA nearly endorsed in 2010 for his pro-gun voting record, also spoke out yesterday afternoon in favor of additional gun control laws. “No one law can erase evil. No policy can prevent a determined madman from committing a senseless act of violence,” Reid said. “But we need to accept the reality that we are not doing enough to protect our citizens.”
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