I’m not a sixth-grader. I’m not a lawyer, but after 20 years, I’ve been up close and personal to the Constitution. I have great respect for it. … It’s fine you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it. Just know I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve passed on a number of bills. I’ve studied the Constitution myself. I am reasonably well-educated, and I thank you for the lecture.Sen. Dianne Feinstein • Responding to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who Sen. Feinstein believed was giving her an unrequested/undesired lecture on the U.S. Constitution and the wording used in its creation. The conflict arose during a heated debate between the two on a gun control bill (sponsored by Sen. Feinstein) which would ban the sale and manufacture of more than 150 types of military weapons, and was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. source
Top Democrat will seek new gun law in next Congress
NBC News: The Newton, Connecticut, school shooting is prompting a number of politicians to speak out for more gun control. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, says she intends to introduce a gun control bill on the first day of the next Congress. “It can be done,” she said on “Meet the Press” Sunday.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also among politicians calling for more gun control, saying it should be President Obama’s number one agenda.
Photo: An undated photo of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. (Hyungwon Kang / Reuters)
Could this become the issue that defines Obama’s second term? The problem here is the “fade” inevitable with large stories like Sandy Hook. Wonkblog notes that media coverage of gun control tends to fade about a month after a major shooting occurs. “But might this time be different? Perhaps. After all, the slaughter of innocent schoolchildren has no doubt gripped the media and public in a way that even the attempted murder of a member of Congress didn’t,” Danny Hayes writes.
I ask my friends on the other side: If the victim is in a same-sex relationship, is the violence any less real, is the danger any less real because you happen to be gay or lesbian? I don’t think so.Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) • Expressing her dismay at pushback from Republicans over the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which resulted from new provisions included to protect the LGBTQ community. Senator Feinstein went on to say that, in her opinion, “to defeat this bill is almost to say ‘we don’t need to consider violence against women — it’s not an important issue.’ It is.” source (via • follow)
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