As US president Barack Obama made an emotional public appeal for political support on tighter gun controls in a speech on Monday evening in Connecticut, scene of the one of the country's worst school shootings, Republicans in Congress were preparing to delay a debate on proposed changes to gun laws.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader in the Senate, has said he would join at least 13 other Republicans to halt any consideration of new gun laws proposed by the Democrats and passed by the Senate judiciary committee in a so-called filibuster to prevent the debate.
Political manoeuvres
As the Senate returned from a recess, McConnell threw down the gauntlet to the Democratic president and the party's leader in the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada, who wants to force a review of sweeping changes to gun laws to be considered in Congress in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and six adults dead in December.
The political manoeuvres on Capitol Hill came as Obama made a passionate speech in front of 3,000 people at the University of Hartford calling on the public to push their congressional leaders to put his gun control proposals to a vote.
Obama raised the possibility of political obstruction in Congress to his proposals that include a plan to introduce a universal background check on all gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons, saying some in Washington “may use political stunts to prevent votes on any of these reforms.”
He described the day of the Newtown killings as the “toughest day of my presidency” and that it would be another tough day if political leaders in Washington did not respond with changes to gun laws.
Referring to radical new state gun controls passed last week in Connecticut, following similar changes in Colorado, Maryland and New York in response of the Newtown shootings, the president said it was time for Congress to "do the same".
“If you’re an American who wants to do something to prevent more families from knowing the immeasurable anguish that these families here have known, then we have to act,” he said in a speech reminiscent of his emotional oratorical displays on the campaign trail.
“Now’s the time to get engaged. Now’s the time to get involved. Now’s the time to push back on fear and frustration and misinformation. Now’s the time for everybody to make their voices heard, from every statehouse to the corridors of Congress.”
Chants
Obama's voice cracked when he recalled how Nicole Hockley, the parent of a Newtown victim, told him that she begged for her six-year-old son Dylan to come to her in her dreams so she can see him again.
“If there is just one thing we can do to keep one father from having to bury his child, isn’t that worth fighting for?” he said, following chants from the crowd of “We want a vote.”
As the divisive gun control debate enters a critical phase, there were hopes that a Republican-led filibuster could be avoided if the two parties can reach a deal on less stringent universal checks on gun purchases.
Democrats require 60 votes to start a debate on gun laws but control just 55 Senate seats. The party will be relying on pressure from senior Republican senators such as John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who have said that a Republican filibuster of gun legislation would be a mistake.
As the president left for Bradley International Airport in Connecticut to return to Washington, a man pulled out a rifle-like toy BB air gun and was arrested by police.
Underscoring the need for stronger gun laws, police were yesterday investigating how a four-year-old in Toms River, New Jersey, shot his six-year- old brother in the head with a rifle outside their home.
