Rep. Carolyn McCarthy urges stricter gun control

Democracy Now!:

Police say the alleged shooter in the Aurora, Colorado, killings purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition online as well as a high-capacity "drum magazine" large enough to hold 100 rounds and capable of firing 50 or 60 rounds per minute. Such a purchase would have been restricted under proposed legislation that has been stalled in Washington for more than a year. We speak to Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a leading advocate for gun control in Congress. She ran for office after her husband was killed and son seriously injured in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting that killed six. "Large magazines, assault weapons do not need to be on the streets for the ordinary citizen. They are meant for the military," McCarthy says. "I think that the American people understand that. The problem is, politicians, legislators across this country are intimidated by the NRA and the gun manufacturers who put so much money out there to say that 'we will take you down in an election if you go against us.'" Responding to the Obama administration’s dismissal of calls for new gun control laws, Rep. McCarthy says, "[President Obama] did say that we had to do something, we had to do something to stop this kind of violence in our country. It’s going to be up to me and certainly many members of Congress to convince him. We are willing to lose an election to save people’s lives, and the president should be doing the same thing."