Biden: Illinois election sends message on guns

February 27, 2013 @ 12:26 pm


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WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Joe Biden argued Wednesday that the primary election victory of a gun control advocate to represent Illinois in Congress sends a message that voters won't stand for inaction in response to shooting violence after the Connecticut school shooting.

Robin Kelly was elected Tuesday as the Democratic nominee in a Chicago-area district to replace former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., forced out in an ethics scandal. She is a strong supporter of gun control, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's political fund poured $2 million into television ads against an opponent who had been highly rated by the National Rifle Association.

Bloomberg and Biden met Wednesday at the White House, and the mayor echoed the vice president's assessment of the Illinois race. "Is it a harbinger of things to come? I think so," Bloomberg told reporters outside the West Wing. He argued that "voters of this congressional district understood that they and their children and grandchildren are at risk with guns on the streets."

The NRA argues the outcome proves nothing. NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox told The Associated Press in an interview that Bloomberg "just spent over $2 million to hold arguably the deepest blue seat in the U.S. House, in a race where the NRA spent zero and had no involvement."

Biden has been the White House's leader on pushing for gun control legislation, including a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and a push for universal background checks. The NRA opposes all the measures and argues they wouldn't have stopped the recent high-profile mass shootings across the country.

Biden told state attorneys general gathered at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington that the Illinois race was a test case following the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. "For the first time since Newtown, voters sent a clear unequivocal signal," Biden said.

"The voters sent a message last night, not just to the NRA but to the politicians all around the country by electing Robin Kelly, who stood up, who stood strong for gun safety totally consistent with our Second Amendment rights," Biden said. "The message is there will be a moral price as well as a political price to be paid for inaction. This is not 1994. People know too much."

In 1994, Congress passed an assault weapons ban and some lawmakers who supported it paid an electoral price by being voted out of office, and Congress let the law expire after 10 years. But Biden argued the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 students and six workers has changed the gun debate in a way he's never seen.

"This senseless act not only shocked the conscience of the American people, but I believe it has changed and galvanized the attitude of the American people demanding concrete action. I've been doing this for a long time. The public mood has changed," Biden said, his voice rising to a yell. "The excuse that it's too politically risky to act is no longer acceptable. We cannot remain silent. We have to become the voices of those 20 beautiful children."

Cox agreed the debate has changed since 1994. "The difference between now and 1994 is that we had a decade to try his failed experience in gun control," Cox said. "What we're interested in are solutions that work with an honest discussion over what doesn't work."


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (12)


  • Add A Comment

  • CH wrote...
    make sure you take your gun with you -
    January 23, 2013 3:49 pm
    JOE!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Chains O'Biden, The Dear Leaders pawn.
    January 23, 2013 4:57 pm
    This way when the gun control movement fails or when the next next massacre happens, the Dear Leader can conveniently blame this failure on Biden the fall guy!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    How did the elections work out for you?
    January 23, 2013 7:38 pm
    Who are you going to vote for in 2016? Hillary? What are your choices in a republican candidate? By the way, your face went down nicely in my "head" this morning, quite rewarding. Your party is dead, you have no more to say than "when gun control fails" You are stupider than I thought. Bi-partisan control will happen, nobody wants to take away your guns, just keep them out of the hands of people like you and your insane posting homies.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    longway,
    February 27, 2013 7:59 am
    you shouldn't post drunk.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • C"mon Man wrote...
    Uncle Joe
    January 23, 2013 9:27 pm
    OK to send guns to Mexico thou. Can you say Fast and Furious? As far as 2016? Team Clinton.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • TwoTrees wrote...
    'Biden says a shotgun will scare off intruders'
    February 19, 2013 6:54 pm
    Can 'intruders' include the IRS?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • saylean wrote...
    two shots fired in a double barrel...
    February 19, 2013 8:58 pm
    Two shots from a double barrel would leave the shotgun empty u dunce. Thanks for the advice, but i will keep my semi autos. Period.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    Actually "Joking Joe" Biden said......
    February 19, 2013 11:55 pm
    To discharge the shotgun (where ?) and that would "scare" any intruder.Joe actually makes me physically ill with his stupidity.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    He's the mental midget of the two
    February 20, 2013 5:50 am
    and that's saying a lot.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • bigdogina4x4 wrote...
    I Agree,
    February 27, 2013 11:46 am
    This idiot actually is endorsing indiscriminate fire to scare an intruder. The only 2 more repulsive people to listen to are Harry Reid and Nancy Polosi.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hnuh wrote...
    02-20-2013 Biden says...
    February 20, 2013 10:37 am
    Biden says a lot of things, many of them unintentionally hilarious. What competence does a man who has never worked a day in his life, who has lived off government all his days, who has had secret service protection for himself and his family forever have to make ANY DETERMINATION ABOUT ANY THING ANY LEGITIMATE PERSON MAY CONSIDER? 0bama is an empty suit, 0biden is a suit filled with that white stuff you see on top of chicken shxt.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chrisfrommv wrote...
    Clear message?
    February 27, 2013 12:26 pm
    What clear message? The millions of pro second amendment protestors nation wide, multiple states passing nullification bills, social media storm, the massive purchasing of firearms and ammunition? Is that not a clear message. An anti-gun democrat elected in Chicago's 2nd district is not a surprise, specially considering what part of Chicago it covers. It seems Biden is buying a car that has a soft pedal, brake squeal, engine knock, and antifreeze out the exhaust, and because he can hear Burbank's message over the radio the car is in prime condition!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }