Slowpoke_Rodrigo
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STORY
May 8, 2000 - 12:46 PM
Clinton Adds Support to Million Mon March
By Terence Hunt
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Saying he is frustrated and saddened by Congress' refusal to pass tougher gun laws, President Clinton on Monday heartily endorsed the Million Mom March that is expected to draw tens of thousands of women to the capital in support of gun control.
"I think what they're doing is a very noble and good thing," the president said after meeting with organizers of the demonstration scheduled for Mothers' Day.
With tears in his eyes, Clinton said he was moved by the stories of parents whose children were killed in gun incidents.
"I am subdued. I'm frustrated. I'm very sad because I don't want any more kids to die," the president told reporters.
Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo called on presumptive Republican presidential nominee George Bush to clarify whether he would pursue new laws to protect gun makers from liability lawsuits if he became president.
"Will he immunize these gun manufacturers or will he demand they act responsibly," Cuomo asked during a telephone press conference.
Cuomo, who has campaigned for Bush likely opponent Vice President Al Gore, said Bush has been less than clear in answering whether he would protect the gun industry from 31 suits filed by cities in recent years.
The Million Mom March is expected to draw 100,000 people to the National Mall in Washington. Other demonstrations are scheduled in 20 cities nationwide, including Tulsa, Okla., Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta and Portland, Ore.
The group is pressing Congress for stricter gun control, including measures to require all handgun owners to be licensed and registered, require built-in child safety locks and limit handgun purchases to one a month.
Donna Dees Thomases, founder of the march, said Clinton urged them to consider their efforts "the beginning of a real grassroots movement in this country" on tightening gun restrictions.
"What the president told us today is, 'Please don't end with Mother's Day and do not give up. This is not going to be an easy battle,'" she said.
She said organizers wrote a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch nine months ago requesting action on gun legislation. "Perhaps we'll have another discussion after the march," she said.
"What they're doing is profoundly important," Clinton said. "And we in the administration want to do whatever we can to support them. They are taking a stand for their children. Many of them have lost loved ones, they've lost children, they've lost spouses. And there will be many more just like them who are here.
"They want Congress to act on the common-sense gun legislation before it," he said. "And of course they want Congress to go beyond that to licensing, to registration."
He said "it is unconscionable" that Congress has not acted in the year since the massacre of students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
Clinton said the gun control advocates "will succeed over the long run if they stay with it, because they represent the heavy majority of the American people, and they have borne the heavy burden in their own lives, which they have been willing to put into this effort, and I'm very grateful to them."
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Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
I voted for the Neal Knox 13
I'll see you at the TFL End Of Summer Meet!
May 8, 2000 - 12:46 PM
Clinton Adds Support to Million Mon March
By Terence Hunt
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Saying he is frustrated and saddened by Congress' refusal to pass tougher gun laws, President Clinton on Monday heartily endorsed the Million Mom March that is expected to draw tens of thousands of women to the capital in support of gun control.
"I think what they're doing is a very noble and good thing," the president said after meeting with organizers of the demonstration scheduled for Mothers' Day.
With tears in his eyes, Clinton said he was moved by the stories of parents whose children were killed in gun incidents.
"I am subdued. I'm frustrated. I'm very sad because I don't want any more kids to die," the president told reporters.
Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo called on presumptive Republican presidential nominee George Bush to clarify whether he would pursue new laws to protect gun makers from liability lawsuits if he became president.
"Will he immunize these gun manufacturers or will he demand they act responsibly," Cuomo asked during a telephone press conference.
Cuomo, who has campaigned for Bush likely opponent Vice President Al Gore, said Bush has been less than clear in answering whether he would protect the gun industry from 31 suits filed by cities in recent years.
The Million Mom March is expected to draw 100,000 people to the National Mall in Washington. Other demonstrations are scheduled in 20 cities nationwide, including Tulsa, Okla., Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta and Portland, Ore.
The group is pressing Congress for stricter gun control, including measures to require all handgun owners to be licensed and registered, require built-in child safety locks and limit handgun purchases to one a month.
Donna Dees Thomases, founder of the march, said Clinton urged them to consider their efforts "the beginning of a real grassroots movement in this country" on tightening gun restrictions.
"What the president told us today is, 'Please don't end with Mother's Day and do not give up. This is not going to be an easy battle,'" she said.
She said organizers wrote a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch nine months ago requesting action on gun legislation. "Perhaps we'll have another discussion after the march," she said.
"What they're doing is profoundly important," Clinton said. "And we in the administration want to do whatever we can to support them. They are taking a stand for their children. Many of them have lost loved ones, they've lost children, they've lost spouses. And there will be many more just like them who are here.
"They want Congress to act on the common-sense gun legislation before it," he said. "And of course they want Congress to go beyond that to licensing, to registration."
He said "it is unconscionable" that Congress has not acted in the year since the massacre of students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
Clinton said the gun control advocates "will succeed over the long run if they stay with it, because they represent the heavy majority of the American people, and they have borne the heavy burden in their own lives, which they have been willing to put into this effort, and I'm very grateful to them."
------------------
Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
I voted for the Neal Knox 13
I'll see you at the TFL End Of Summer Meet!
