Mother of VA Tech shooting survivor: NRA shouldn’t be part of gun safety debate

[babylonsister]

Mother of VA Tech shooting survivor: NRA shouldn’t be part of gun safety debate
Morgan Whitaker
8:30 PM on 01/30/2013


The mother of one of the survivors of the Virginia Tech shooting told elected leaders to stand up to the NRA, a group she argues doesn’t even deserve to be “at the table” in the gun safety debate.

Lori Haas joined PoliticsNation Wednesday after attending the contentious Senate hearing which featured testimony from gun control advocates, gun rights supporters, and experts in law enforcement. NRA head Wayne LaPierre voiced some of the strongest opposition to new regulations, including shooting down a proposal to close the background check loophole.

“We are hopeful and impressed with some of our leadership on the hill but frankly we need leadership from all of our representatives,” Haas said. “It shouldn’t take much courage to stand up to the NRA. Courage is facing down the barrel of a gun, and my daughter did that and there were 16 other injured students at Virginia Tech who did that.”

“The NRA should not even be at the table,” she said. ”I don’t see reports from them, I don’t see studies from them, I don’t see activities from them, I don’t see policies from them that contribute to the public safety debate.”

Haas, who joined the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence as an organizer in her home state of Virginia in 2010, pushed back against those who think argue regulations like background checks attack legal gun owners in America. “I find it very, very telling that the commentary is always ‘you’re targeting law abiding citizens’,” she said. “No, we’re not targeting law abiding citizens, we’re targeting criminals, dangerous individuals, felons, domestic abusers, terrorists. We want to stop those individuals from getting a firearm and harming our neighbors, our friends, our communities.”

“We need to do a background check on all buyers on all gun sales.”

more...

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/30/mother-of-va-tech-shooting-survivor-nra-shouldnt-be-part-of-gun-safety-debate/

[marions ghost]

1. Parents who speak up

write, act, & continue to care, will be the ones who make the difference.

[HooptieWagon]

2. Irony at it's finest.

The VT shooting actually is a good example of the NRA's position...two handguns were used (no assault weapon), and the shooter's mental condition should have prevented him from obtaining ANY weapon. So it's no surprise the mother of a VT victim doesn't want these facts brought up.
Which brings us to the reason why any meaningful legislation won't be passed...one side wants to shout down and silence the other. No matter what one thinks of the NRA (I personally have a rather low opinion of them), they and non-NRA-belonging gun owners do have some valid points, with supporting facts, that should be a part of the discussion. Not including them is the equivilent of an all-male panel determining women's reproductive health policy.