Politics & Government

Sen. Mark Warner: Newtown is 'Game Changer' on Guns

Virginia senator said his three daughters asked him Friday what he was going to do about school shootings.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., wants to tighten gun laws, saying "enough is enough" in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings Friday that saw 20 young children and six adults killed.

“I‘ve been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights," Warner said Monday in Richmond, according to The Washington Post.

“I’ve got an A rating from the NRA. But the status quo isn’t acceptable. I’ve got three daughters," Warner said. "They asked me on Friday evening, ‘Dad, what are you gonna do about this?’ There’s got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition.”

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Warner said the ability to hunt is "part of our culture" on Richmond's CBS affiliate. The Alexandria Democrat, once considered a strong choice for his party's gubernatorial ticket next year, again talked about his A rating from the National Rifle Association but said, "enough is enough." The NRA headquarters is in Fairfax.

A Warner staffmember tweeted Monday: "SenWarner thinks #Newtown shooting 'game changer' on guns."

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President Barack Obama, who visited Newtown, Conn., the site of the shootings, also wants to tighten gun laws.

"It’s a complex problem that will require a complex solution," White House spokesman Jay Carney said during a breifing Monday. "No single piece of legislation, no single action will fully address the problem."

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that she plans to introduce legislation to ban assault weapons at the start of the next Congress.


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