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TV reporter's father tells rally 'we can, we must, we will' prevail on guns | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Andy Parker, whose daughter Alison Parker was shot dead live on air in Virginia last month, on Thursday addressed a Capitol Hill rally in support of a “day of action” organised by gun control groups. | |
Related: Father of Virginia reporter shot on air reaffirms push for gun control | Related: Father of Virginia reporter shot on air reaffirms push for gun control |
Alison Parker died with her cameraman, Adam Ward, when they were shot by a former employee of their news station, WDBJ7. Their interviewee, Vicki Gardner, was wounded but survived. | Alison Parker died with her cameraman, Adam Ward, when they were shot by a former employee of their news station, WDBJ7. Their interviewee, Vicki Gardner, was wounded but survived. |
Parker told the rally “we can, we must, and we will” prevail over opponents of new background check legislation, such as the National Rifle Association (NRA). | |
“Too many members of Congress remain in the pocket of the gun lobby,” Parker said. “That has got to change.” | |
The governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and the state’s two US senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, also spoke. The three Democrats urged Congress to revisit a failed 2013 vote on legislation that would have required background checks for online gun sales and purchases at gun shows. | |
“Can’t we at least take a first step in terms of background checks?” Warner said. | |
McAuliffe said he had sent a package of gun-related legislation to the Republican-held Virginia legislature, where it died in a senate committee. The proposals had sought to renew the state’s one-per-month limit of handgun purchases, require background checks at gun shows and ban guns from those under restraining orders. | |
“I am sick and tired of gutless politicians who are scared of the NRA,” McAuliffe told the rally. | |
The 2013 federal proposals were sponsored by Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvanian Republican, and Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia. They were made after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. | |
Thursday’s rally was was organised under the banner of a National #WhateverItTakes Day of Action by the advocacy groups Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. | |
In remarks released before the rally, Parker said: “After my daughter Alison was tragically killed two weeks ago, I said on national television that we have to do whatever it takes to fix this country’s gun violence problem.” | |
Related: One year after the Isla Vista massacre, a father's gun control mission is personal | Related: One year after the Isla Vista massacre, a father's gun control mission is personal |
“I know that weakening the stranglehold of the gun lobby won’t happen overnight. I know, too, that passing background check laws won’t prevent all acts of gun violence from taking place. | |
“But we must keep the pressure on our lawmakers until they do the right thing. And if they won’t, find their replacement.” | |
A number of relatives of those killed by gun violence – and survivors of shootings – also attended the event. | |
Among them were Richard Martinez, whose son Christopher Michaels-Martinez died in the Isla Vista shootings of May 2014; relatives of victims of the Aurora movie theatre shooting of July 2012; and relatives of those killed at Sandy Hook elementary school. |
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