Delco protest calls for federal action on guns
firing weapons,” said Bryan Miller, the executive director of Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence. “This is the only country that allows them to do so, and as a result we increasingly suffer from these incredible massacres.”
“We need weapons.”
In 1994, Miller lost his brother, Michael John Miller, a special agent with the FBI working desk duty in the “cold case” squad room. He was shot and killed when a gunman entered police headquarters in Washington, D.C., and opened fire, wrongfully targeting Miller and other agents.
Miller said he was supportive of an assault rifle ban before his brother was killed, but has been committed ever since.
In 2004, the ten-year Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired. Passed by Congress on Sept. 13, 1994, it succeeded with a narrow 52-48 vote in the Senate before receiving the signature of President Bill Clinton.
However, in the years since the assault weapons ban expired, incidents like the ones in Orlando, Aurora, Newtown, San Bernardino, Charleston, Ft. Hood, and countless others has done little to push Congress to act again on the issue.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., again called for a federal ban of military-grade weapons on Monday.
“Congress should take up and vote on legislation to ban military-style weapons, limit the size and capacity of magazines, which contribute to deadly mass shootings, and put in place universal background checks,” Casey said in a statement. “If Congress continues to fail its most basic obligation to ban these to keep America safe, then these mass shootings will continue to occur.”
His counterpart, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., called the attack in Las Vegas a “tragedy” and “the work of a madman.”
“In the coming days, additional information regarding this heinous attack and the conditions of those who were wounded will be shared by law enforcement and medical professionals,” Toomey said in a statement. “This information is critical in determining the next steps needed to try and prevent future tragedies.”
Meehan spokesman John Elizandro offered a statement to the Daily Times regarding the protest outside of the congressman’s Springfield office and alluded to potential action in the Congress.
“As the investigation continues, Congressman Meehan will be focusing on what further steps can be taken to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them and prevent a violent massacre like this from happening again,” the statement reads.
Miller said the silver lining is that despite a lack of action on the federal level, states like New Jersey and California have passed their own respective assault rifle bans. Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York have also banned the sale of assault weapons.
Statements from both the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the state GOP offered statements with drastically different tones on Monday.
“Prayer alone is not good enough. We must act. We must decide as a society and nation to institute common sense proposals to curb this scourge in our society and we must do so without violating the Second Amendment,” wrote Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Marcel L. Groen.
A statement from the GOP Chairman called the act of violence “pure evil.”
“To the people of Las Vegas and all those affected, especially the victims and their families, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania sends its deepest condolences along with our prayers during this difficult time of mourning and recovery,” wrote GOP Chairman Val DiGiogio. “Thank you to the brave law enforcement officers and first responders for their decisive actions during this horrific tragedy.”