Dems hopeful for gun safety laws
Giffords, Barber continue fight for arms legislation
PHILADELPHIA - With Hillary Clinton poised to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, long-frustrated gun-control advocates see a new glimmer of hope for measures to restrict gun ownership and sales.
One of those hopefuls sits with Arizona’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention here, his cane tucked under his seat at Wells Fargo Center. Throughout the convention, former U.S. Rep. Ron Barber has listened to gunsafety champions, and mothers who have shared their anguish over losing children to gun violence or excessive police force.
Wednesday night’s convention programming highlighted the issue. The speakers included the mother of a victim of the recent Orlando nightclub massacre, the daughter of the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School, who was killed in a 2012 mass shooting, and two survivors of last year’s Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, S.C. Also speaking was Barber’s former boss.
While working as the district director for former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in 2011, he was wounded alongside her at a constituent event near Tucson. Six people died and 13 were injured. Giffords was shot in the head.
Apart from the physical injuries to his left leg and face, the emotional trauma is always with him, Barber said. And the stories of fellow survivors and families of the victims tear at Barber.
“These are just very painful, just emotional experiences that you never get over,” Barber, 70, said this week.
In early 2012, Giffords resigned from Congress to focus on her recovery and Barber won her seat in a special election. Barber later lost a bid to keep the seat to now-U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz.
“While I’m no longer in Congress, I’m very committed to this personally,” he said. “My job, as I see it, is to continue to help keep this issue alive — to keep the concept of common-sense gun laws in play.”
After years of frustration, gun-control advocates feel the tide turning on the issue, which they believe maintains widespread popular support.
With confidence high about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s prospects against Republican nominee Donald Trump, some see an opportunity — especially if Clinton’s coattails can help Democrats retake the U.S. Senate.
Even in the U.S. House of Representatives, which could stay under GOP control even if the Democrats win the Senate, pressure is increasing. In June, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., led a Democratic sit-in on the House floor to demand action on gun control. OUR TEAM
On Tuesday, Lewis joined Giffords, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and mothers who have lost children to gun violence for an emotional rally at downtown Philadelphia’s Logan Square park.
Lewis assured Giffords, his former House colleague, and the grieving mothers that the fight goes on. He encouraged the anti-violence activists to find a way of getting in the way, even if it means getting “in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.”
“I’ve been to too many funerals in Atlanta, other parts of Georgia,” Lewis said. “I’ve seen schoolmates and classmates and playmates of my son murdered and gone to their funerals. I’m sick and tired of the gun violence!”
When Giffords addressed the convention Wednesday, she said: “Hillary is tough. Hillary is courageous. She will fight to make our families safer. In the White House, she will stand up to the gun lobby. That’s why I’m voting for Hillary.”