Neil Heslin, whose six-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, died alongside 19 of his first-grade classmates and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, recounted the day of the shooting.
The father of one of the Newtown school shooting victims, pro-gun control mayors, and others testified at a Senate judiciary hearing on banning assault weapons Wednesday.
Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, the committee’s ranking member, repeated his opposition to Feinstein’s legislation, saying that the previous assault weapons ban did little to prevent the gun-related massacres. The senator also stated that Feinstein’s legislation has “nothing to do with the functions of the weapons.”
“Those arbitrary distinctions and the fact that these weapons are commonly used for self-defense raise constitutional questions under the Second Amendment. And the same questions of self-defense arise concerning magazines that enable firing of more than 10 rounds.”
Grassley proposed alternative methods and argued that improving the background check system should be made a higher priority, criminalizing gun trafficking and finding ways to boost government funding for mental-health research.
President Obama has expressed support for the assault weapons ban and also would like to mandate a universal background check for gun-owners and a limit on the ammunition in magazine clips.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also plans to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. John McCain as well as Vice President Joe Biden at the White House. Bloomberg, a longtime gun-control advocate, has pledged to push stricter gun legislation, and will meet with senators throughout the day.
The mayor’s super PAC spent more than $2 million on a Tuesday special election in an Illinois House race against Democrat Debbie Halvorson, who was backed by the National Rifle Association. Robin Kelly, Cook County chief administrative officer who made gun control a main campaign platform, won the congressional primary.
