"Tucson deserves a vote": Local gun control rally demands action from Congress
Reporter: Marcelino Benito
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - When the conversation turns to regulating which guns you can and can't buy and how many rounds you can load in those guns, passions flare. As lawmakers continue to wrestle with what they can do to curb gun violence. In Tucson, protesters are putting the pressure on Congress to act and act now. They say the victims of Tucson's mass shooting deserve a vote.
"The people deserve a vote," said Debi Willman, a volunteer with Organizing for Action.
Outside Sen. John McCain's Tucson office, nearly two dozen protesters demanded action on gun control, hand delivering a letter to his staff.
"It's time to speak up," Linda Greene said. "Enough is enough."
They know it's a tricky issue for lawmakers.
"We can't do everything, but we can do something," said Greene.
But that is no longer an excuse they plan to accept. They say the "something" that can be done, that everyone can support are universal background checks. But Charles Heller, with the Arizona Citizens Defense League isn't convinced.
"Do you think something will get done?" asked 9OYS reporter Marcelino Benito. "Rational human beings would hope not. That agenda has laid dormant simply waiting for the right victims in whose blood they might dance."
He says gun control agendas only seek to punish the innocent for the acts of the guilty. But the people outside McCain's office say Tucson's own tragedy touched people.
"What happened to her outside a supermarket when she was speaking to her constituents and that little girl should have never happened," said Greene.
The ultimate tipping point they say: the massacre of 20 children at Newtown. They say it changed public opinion, and now it's time for lawmakers to follow suit.
"Senator McCain knows the damage a gun does," said Greene. "He's a very brave man. He's been right there in warfare, but we shouldn't have assault weapons killing our children."
Senator McCain does not support the President gun control agenda in its entirety, but does support expanding background checks.
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