Stopping Massacres: Senator Casey In Philly Looking For Ways
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey was in West Philadelphia Friday to whip up support for the latest proposed gun control legislation that follows the attack in Orlando.
Casey met with African Methodist Episcopal church leaders to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Charleston Massacre in which 9 AME congregants were gunned down.
The Senator, once a staunch pro-gun advocate, has had his own Road to Damascus conversion in recent years as the bodies have piled up with each successive massacre.
On Monday, in the aftermath of Orlando, he introduced a measure that would prevent those convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes from being able to buy a gun:
"I know I'm gonna hear a lot of opposition to this. They'll say 'oh my goodness, how can you apply that standard to only a misdemeanor?' Well, when you leave unchecked it usually gets a lot worse. And we've gotta make sure that we're dealing with this issue at a much lower level."
Casey says too often the urgency wanes in the weeks and months after a mass tragedy, so he's asking constituents to keep up the pressure by calling and emailing their elected representatives.
Casey doesn't expect a vote on his bill anytime soon, but he believes there could be movement as early as next Tuesday on a background check bill and Sen. Diane Feinstein's legislation that would ban anyone on terrorist watch lists from purchasing guns.
The Orlando gunman was twice placed on terrorist watch lists, but still was able to legally buy a military style semi-automatic weapon to carry out the atrocity. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 wounded.
