Hundreds of legislators from across the country gathered in
Nashville, Tennessee, for the annual meeting of the National Conference of
State Legislatures this week to talk about state policy matters. Most of the
more than one dozen GOP lawmakers interviewed by Stateline maintained
their firm opposition to new gun legislation in their states. These mass
shootings, while tragic, are not reason enough to abandon their principles and
pass gun control measures they think violate constitutional rights and a proud
gun tradition, they said.
Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh said he’s not going to
follow what he called a “kneejerk” and “absurd” call to ban assault weapons.
“A dramatic shooting does bring attention, but so much is
false information,” Kavanagh said. “Everyone is demonizing the semiautomatic
weapon that has some mean-looking stuff on it. There’s too much emotion and not
enough fact-based reason.”
Kavanagh’s Republican colleague in the Arizona state Senate,
David Gowan, added that while “it’s horrific what occurred,” his fellow
lawmakers will not change the state’s loose gun laws, such as one that allows
people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
“It’s hard to take somebody else’s freedom away because some
people try to abuse it,” Gowan said.
Gun control advocates and some Democrats have taken up the
slogan “do something,” after a crowd chanted it Sunday night at Ohio Republican
Gov. Mike DeWine during his speech at a vigil for the nine people killed hours
earlier.
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