NIGHTWATCH
Member
Thank you GOD!!! Our message is reaching even those who have suffered the worst gun violence.
Strike one up for sanity!
Columbine parents differ on gun ban
Some say limits didn't make difference in 1999 school shootings
By Jon Sarche, Associated Press
September 10, 2004
DENVER — Congress should allow the federal assault weapons ban to expire next week as scheduled, several parents tied to the Columbine High School massacre said Thursday.
"I guess the assault (weapons) ban did nothing to protect my son," said Brian Rohrbaugh, father of slain student Daniel Rohrbaugh. "As it was worded, I'm not sure it had any value other than a political agenda."
Republican leaders in the House and Senate say legislation to renew the 10-year-old ban will not be brought up for a vote before the ban expires Monday.
Some Democrats and police leaders have urged President Bush to persuade Congress to renew the ban, and Bush has said he would sign such a bill if Congress passed it.
At a news conference this week, chiefs of police from the District of Columbia, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Seattle said they believe violent gun crimes will increase if the ban expires. They were joined by Tom Mauser, whose son, Daniel, was one among the 13 victims gunned down by suicidal teens Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at the suburban Denver high school.
"These are the shoes my son wore on April 20, 1999. I'm wearing them to symbolize that no parent should have to wear these shoes," said Mauser, who has worked with a group calling itself Sane Alternatives to the Firearm Epidemic on weapons legislation.
The National Rifle Association and other gun rights proponents have criticized the ban, saying it won't prevent crimes.
Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved gun show background checks after the Columbine massacre, in which three of the four guns used were purchased at gun shows. An attempt to change the law failed at the Legislature this year after gun-control supporters said it might provide a loophole for people who meet at a gun show and go elsewhere to finalize a purchase.
The ban, signed by President Clinton in 1994, outlawed 19 types of military-style assault weapons. It included a "sunset clause" to retire the ban unless Congress specifically reauthorizes it.
"That ban was in place when Columbine happened, so it didn't prevent that," said Rich Petrone, whose wife, Sue, is Daniel Rohrbaugh's mother. "In the 10 years it was in effect, look at all the school shootings, all these other shootings, and it didn't stop them. I don't think it'll make a difference."
His opinion was echoed by Judy Brown, whose son Brooks was threatened by Harris and Klebold.
"You can make all the laws you want, but when someone wants to get a gun badly enough, they're going to get it," she said.
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/state_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2419_3172125,00.html
