Gun Control

Lawmakers began a new session of Congress with the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, still fresh in their minds -- inspiring a new push to pass gun laws that could prevent another tragedy. On Day One, lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced nearly a dozen bills related to gun violence. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-New York, a longtime gun control advocate, led the fight on the Democratic side of the aisle. She's sponsoring legislation that would require background checks for all gun sales -- including at gun shows -- and ban online sales of ammunition.

 McCarthy is also co-sponsoring a bill to ban high-capacity magazine clips with Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado. DeGette's district includes Columbine High School, where two gunmen killed 13 people in 1999, and is next to Aurora, where a gunman killed 12 people in a mass shooting at a movie theater in July. "These assault magazines help put the 'mass' in 'mass shooting' and anything we can do to stop their proliferation will save lives in America," said McCarthy, whose husband was killed and her son critically wounded in a mass shooting on the Long Island Railroad in New York in 1993. "These devices are used to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible, and we owe it to innocent Americans everywhere to keep them out of the hands of dangerous people." Meanwhile, two Republican freshmen, Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, have introduced bills that would allow more guns around schools.

In the Senate, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein plans to introduce a bill to ban the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of more than 100 firearms. The bill would also ban certain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine, and semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds. The assault weapons ban Feinstein helped pass in 1994 expired in 2004. Feinstein is in the process of gathering support for her bill in both chambers. Bills sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, to ban high-capacity magazines and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, to enhance background checks and close the gun show loophole already have counterparts in the lower chamber.

But gun control is a heated topic, and any push to restrict access to guns will be met with strong opposition from the 4-million-member National Rifle Association, the nation's most powerful gun rights lobby. The NRA has long blocked efforts to introduce tougher gun laws, arguing Congress cannot infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms. In a press conference a week after the Newtown shootings, the group's Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre asked, "Since when did the word 'gun' automatically become a bad word?" He called on Congress to appropriate enough money to put armed police officers in every school in the country. The NRA has also questioned the effectiveness of gun bans, suggesting they could put communities in danger.

                Expect to see some heated debates within the next few weeks. Get your popcorn, lay back, and turn on C-Span to get a look at the action.