Page 22 - 022218

Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 223 ~ 22 of 52
But those moves have drawn criticism as being inadequate, with Democrats questioning whether the Justice Department even has authority to regulate bump stocks and arguing that the background check legislation would not go far enough.
The department said its review of whether bump stocks are federally prohibited is ongoing but did not say how Trump’s order would affect that.
An effort to pass bump stock legislation last year zzled out.
On background checks, Trump has suggested he is open to a bipartisan bill developed in response to a mass shooting at a Texas church. It would penalize federal agencies that don’t properly report required records and reward states that comply by providing them with federal grant preferences.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the bill is “a small step,” but said Democrats want to see universal background check legislation.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said Wednesday that he’ll probably reintroduce bipartisan legislation that would require background checks for all gun purchases online and at gun shows. He said he planned to discuss the idea with Trump.
That bill rst emerged with backing from Toomey and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia following the 2012 slaying of 26 children and adults in Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School. It failed then and at least one more time since.
But Darrell Scott, the father of Columbine High School victim Rachel Scott, said he felt the president had been moved by the group’s words.
“I feel like there’s a different tone in the air,” he said, “than there has been before.”
___
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Sadie Gurman contributed from Washington. Marc Levy contrib-
uted from Harrisburg and Alina Hartounian from Phoenix.
Shooting town hall: Rubio on the defensive on gun control
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was put on the defensive by angry students, teachers and parents who are demanding stronger gun-control measures at a town hall after the shooting rampage that claimed 17 lives at a Florida high school.
But Rubio, the lone Republican at CNN’s “Stand Up” town hall Wednesday night, did say he would sup- port laws barring those 18 and under from buying guns, support changing the background checks system and getting rid of bump stocks, which allow semiautomatic guns to mimic fully automatic re.
One of those confronting the Florida senator was Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed on Feb. 14 with 16 others. Rubio was the only Republican at the nationally broadcast gather- ing after Florida’s GOP Gov. Rick Scott and President Donald Trump declined invitations to appear at the event in Sunrise, Florida.
Guttenberg told Rubio his comments about the shooting “and those of your president this week have been pathetically weak.”
People stood up and cheered Guttenberg as he challenged Rubio to tell him the truth, to acknowledge that “guns were the factor in the hunting of our kids.”
Guttenberg added, “And tell me you will work with us to do something about guns.”
Rubio responded that the problems laid bare by the shooting rampage “cannot be solved by gun laws alone,” drawing jeering whistles from the crowd. He said that if he believed an assault weapons ban “would have prevented this from happening, I would have supported it.” That drew jeers. Visibly angry, Guttenberg responded: “That is a weapon of war.”
Sen. Bill Nelson and Congressman Ted Deutch, both Democrats from Florida, also were present on a dais. Nelson said he grew up on a ranch and hunted all his life.
“I still hunt with my son but an AK-47 and an AR-15 is not for hunting, it’s for killing,” said Nelson to
applause.
Ryan Schachter, whose brother Alex, was fatally gunned down at Stoneman Douglas High School in