Va. Tech Shooting Survivor: Obama’s Gun Plan a 1st Step, But "We Need a Movement" to Overcome NRA

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from Democracy Now!:

A month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., President Obama is calling for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The National Rifle Association says Congress will not get either. Obama’s proposal comes as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed what is being called toughest gun control law in the nation, also drawing an NRA rebuke. We’re joined by Colin Goddard, a survivor of the Virginia Tech massacre who now works with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Having just returned from meeting with survivors and their parents in Newtown, Goddard and the Brady Campaign were the first group to meet with Vice President Joe Biden’s task force on guns.

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AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by Colin Goddard. On April 16, 2007, he was shot four times when a gunman armed with a .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a nine-millimeter semi-automatic Glock handgun, went on a rampage at Virginia Tech. Thirty-two people were killed. Colin and 16 others were injured. Colin Goddard now works with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. He just returned from meeting with survivors and their parents in Newtown. The Brady Campaign was the first group to meet with Vice President Joe Biden’s task force on guns, and Colin is headed to the White House after this broadcast to attend President Obama’s announcement on gun control. He’s joining us from Washington, D.C.

Colin, welcome back to Democracy Now! Though the announcement has not been made as of this broadcast, President Obama says that he is calling for a ban on assault weapons, on high-capacity magazines. Your response?

COLIN GODDARD: I think that makes sense, you know? I think the president has taken a really comprehensive look at gun violence and our—and gun policy in America and realized that there are multiple ways to move forward that, you know, make it more difficult for dangerous people to get their hands on increasingly lethal weapons and do damage to American people. So, you know, we really applaud the leadership from the administration, you know, the comprehensive look that they’re taking. And I think it’s going to go a long way to maintaining the public engagement on this issue that’s going to be needed to see these policies become laws in this country.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Colin Goddard, in your meetings with Vice President Biden, what kinds of recommendations did you and your organization, the Brady Campaign, make?

COLIN GODDARD: We really highlighted the need for background checks on all gun sales. I mean, I told the vice president personally my experience going to gun shows and purchasing AK-47s and TEC-9s and nine-millimeters without any check whatsoever, you know, and how easy it was for me to just go to a randomly public event, walk up to a random stranger and pay money and walk out with a gun. You know, so I tried to make the issues real for the vice president, to understand the real-life implications of what they’re doing and what they’re trying to tackle and realize that, you know, it’s not going to be taking everyone’s guns away, it’s not going to be destroying the Second Amendment, as some people like the NRA try to extrapolate us to, but it’s actually quite a reasonable set of proposals that the vast majority of Americans already support, you know? So, it’s really encouraging, like I said, to see leadership from the White House finally on this issue. And I think it’s going to go a long way to getting everybody in line with this, and ultimately this becoming law. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/16/va_tech_shooting_survivor_obamas_gun