JOIN USFocus now on gun control
A day after the Connecticut elementary school massacre, a senior congressional Democrat on Saturday called on US lawmakers to pass sweeping new gun control measures including banning assault weapons and high-capacity clips, saying, "Politics be damned."
Representative John Larson, chairman of the House of Representatives Democratic Caucus, gave a list of specific policies he wanted the US Congress to vote on quickly after the mass shooting in his home state of Connecticut.
Lawmakers have not approved a major new gun law since 1994.
Hours after Friday’s rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Barack Obama called for the federal government to prevent mass shootings "regardless of politics," but did not offer details on policies he would seek.
Twenty-eight people died in the incident - 20 schoolchildren and six adults shot at the school, one woman at another nearby site and the gunman.
The incident put renewed pressure on Obama and other Democrats to reverse their years of caution about gun control laws and address the easy availability of firearms.
However, gun control supporters face a Republican-led House that could block such measures. "There may not be a single cure-all for the violence in our nation, however we must start the process and begin the deeper and longer conversations that need to take place. Politics be damned," Larson said in a statement.
Larson said Congress must quickly vote on measures that include requiring background checks for all gun sales, closing "loopholes" on the terrorist watch list and banning assault weapons and high-capacity clips. Other Democrats, including Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, New York Representative Carolyn McCarthy and California Representative George Miller, are calling for stricter gun control after the shootings.
Blumenthal and Miller said they believe the nation should have a "conversation" about gun control.
The politics of gun
Faced with intense lobbying by the National Rifle Association and other gun groups, and fearful of a backlash from gun-owning voters, most Democrats have stopped trying to pass new laws. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the NRA did not donate money to Obama’s 2012 campaign but sent funds to his Republican challenger Mitt Romney. In total, it donated $634,146 to Republicans during the 2012 election and $85,450 to Democrats.