Last week, in an historic move, the Tucson City Council advanced a resolution to require universal background checks on all sales at gun shows on city owned or city managed property.
This action was taken during the afternoon study session. Council chambers were filled to capacity later that day for the regular meeting. By far, proponents of gun control outnumbered the people against it. This was obvious because they were wearing "Common Sense Gun Laws" buttons. During the call to the audience, 20 people volunteered to speak in favor of the gun show resolution; three volunteered to speak against it-- two Tea Party representatives and one gun show promoter, whose family has profited from shows at the Tucson Convention Center for 20 years. After the jump, watch the video from the call to the audience.
This video is a little long, but I tried to provide a flavor for the breadth of opinions expressed during the call to audience. A few high points: former Gabrielle Giffords staffer Pam Simon, Progressive Demograts of America representative Jim Hannley, and One Million Moms for Gun Control all thank the council for this "first step"; Roy Warden threatens to blast the coucil; Tea Partier Keith Heineken calls Giffords a "prop for gun control" and gets boo'd; gun show promoter Lori McMann claims that no gun purchased at one of her shows was ever used in a mass shooting. (How does she know this when there are no background checks and no registration?) One of the most poignant speakers is the priest who administered the last rights to Christina-Taylor Green, after she was shot on the same day as Giffords.
Thank goodness for the private property loophole.
Posted by: Thane "Goldie" Eichenauer | February 11, 2013 at 05:30 PM