Dem senator says he now supports ban on assault-style weapons

[laserhaas]

Source: The HILL

Link to tweet

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Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) says he would now back a ban on assault-style weapons.

"I don't know how I can responsibly look at those young people and not say 'We need to do something,' " Warner said Friday, according to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk.

"We can debate around the edges where and what the perfect solution is. ... But it's time for action."

Warner said the challenge in drafting legislation is that an "assault weapon, in the law, is a kind of a vague term."

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/381212-dem-senator-says-he-now-supports-ban-on-assault-style-weapons?amp&__twitter_impression=true

[BumRushDaShow]

1. VA is purple steadily moving to blue

so at some point, he had to start dealing with the more and more powerful NoVA population, which ain't going away.

[FBaggins]

6. I don't think that's it

He's unlikely to draw a primary opponent and any Republican would be farther right on guns...

... but he might be getting ready to toss his hat back into the national arena. I remember that his "A" from the NRA was one of the things keeping him out of the running in recent elections.

Of course... I would have expected him to act differently on Dodd-Frank last month if that were true.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. He's not up until 2020

and claimed he was ruling out a Presidential run. But I think he is positioning himself to still appeal to the centrist and now progressive blue part of VA. And depending on which way the Russian probe goes, his role in it as a ranking member has been strong and he could be in a good position for gaining additional name-recognition if he changes his mind.

Meanwhile Tim Kaine, who is up this year, has been relatively vocal aagainst the NRA, and is so far holding as a favorite versus some weaker GOP candidates.

[azureblue]

2. oh, NOW he wakes up

How many kids had to die before you changed your mind? Would 6 not change your mind, but 17 will? Would one do it, if it was your kid?
Well, Mark, better late than never, I guess.

[True Blue American]

3. Thank you!

Too little, too late is my view.

[keithbvadu2]

4. To the gun industry, dead children are merely collateral damage/acceptable losses for gun industry p

To the gun industry, dead children are merely collateral damage/acceptable losses for gun industry profits and political donations.

[EL34x4]

5. I'll be curious what tune he's singing six months from now.

The NRA might be keeping a low profile these days. They'll be out in force in October. They know their single-issue voters; the ones who agree with Democrats on every other issue yet will vote for the Republican who isn't talking about taking away his AR-15.

[Grins]

8. Not so easy...!

Not so easy. First, remember that the NRA is headquartered in N. Virginia.
And second, there is the density of guns in the state population.

I was looking into this over the past couple of days so here is some perspective that surprised me when looking at the number of guns per capita by state:

New York comes in at number 51 (the lowest), with 3.3 guns for every 1,000 residents.

Now let's compare that to Texas that comes in at number 18. Texas has 12.8 guns for every 1,000 residents, almost 4-times that of New York. (Although it may be higher because Texans are not required to register their guns.)

So where does Virginia fit in? At #5!!!! There are a whopping 30.1 guns for every 1,000 residents in Virginia, more than double the gun density of Texas in a population only 1/3rd as large! And they vote too.

So this is an act of political courage.

[SunSeeker]

9. K & R