Clinton To Act on Gun Safety
By SONYA ROSS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton will take action on gun safety next year, the White House said Wednesday, contending Congress has ``frustrated the American public'' by failing to tighten firearms restrictions in a year of mass shootings.
Clinton's chief of staff, John Podesta, convened a brainstorming session of administration officials to come up with various actions Clinton could take, either through executive authority, federal regulations or new legislation beyond the bill now stuck in Congress.
``We're not going to rely on Congress. We're going to find other avenues,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. ``It's our overall sense that this is something the American public is demanding.''
The group Podesta brought together included Bruce Reed, Clinton's domestic policy adviser; Stuart Eizenstat, the deputy treasury secretary; Eric Holder, the deputy attorney general; and Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo.
They spent about 90 minutes discussing strategies they could use to force Congress to pass gun legislation, or at least take up the issue, during its election-year session beginning in January, according to a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity.
``Hopefully, that will cause the Congress to get off the dime,'' the official said.
Lockhart said administration officials are counting on the sense that a majority of Americans want some type of action on gun restrictions, after an outbreak of violent shootings in schools, workplaces and even churches that have killed dozens of Americans.
Officials do not want to lose the momentum for change that was touched off by the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in which 12 students and a teacher were killed by two teen-age boys who then killed themselves.
``We believe that Congress has frustrated the American public on the issue of gun safety, that we have more than enough evidence that we need to take steps,'' Lockhart said.
Wednesday's meeting came after the Clinton administration threatened to file suit against gun manufacturers in a bid to pressure them to negotiate with cities and states seeking to recover the costs of gun violence.
The administration would act on behalf of 3,100 local housing authorities seeking recompense for gun violence.
By SONYA ROSS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton will take action on gun safety next year, the White House said Wednesday, contending Congress has ``frustrated the American public'' by failing to tighten firearms restrictions in a year of mass shootings.
Clinton's chief of staff, John Podesta, convened a brainstorming session of administration officials to come up with various actions Clinton could take, either through executive authority, federal regulations or new legislation beyond the bill now stuck in Congress.
``We're not going to rely on Congress. We're going to find other avenues,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. ``It's our overall sense that this is something the American public is demanding.''
The group Podesta brought together included Bruce Reed, Clinton's domestic policy adviser; Stuart Eizenstat, the deputy treasury secretary; Eric Holder, the deputy attorney general; and Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo.
They spent about 90 minutes discussing strategies they could use to force Congress to pass gun legislation, or at least take up the issue, during its election-year session beginning in January, according to a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity.
``Hopefully, that will cause the Congress to get off the dime,'' the official said.
Lockhart said administration officials are counting on the sense that a majority of Americans want some type of action on gun restrictions, after an outbreak of violent shootings in schools, workplaces and even churches that have killed dozens of Americans.
Officials do not want to lose the momentum for change that was touched off by the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in which 12 students and a teacher were killed by two teen-age boys who then killed themselves.
``We believe that Congress has frustrated the American public on the issue of gun safety, that we have more than enough evidence that we need to take steps,'' Lockhart said.
Wednesday's meeting came after the Clinton administration threatened to file suit against gun manufacturers in a bid to pressure them to negotiate with cities and states seeking to recover the costs of gun violence.
The administration would act on behalf of 3,100 local housing authorities seeking recompense for gun violence.
