WASHINGTON—“Americans deserve better; we don’t deserve the mass slaughter in this country,” said Dr. Abigail Spangler, a Virginia resident and founder of the gun law advocacy group Protest Easy Guns.
Quoting U.S. government statistics and referencing the speed of semi-automatic weapons, Spangler said, “Thirty thousand Americans shot dead every year and over 100,000 shot? The carnage here is astronomical—it’s a disgrace!”
Spangler has been fighting for gun law reform since the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, which killed 32 students and teachers. Like many dedicated gun control advocates, she has set her sights on Congress, turning up on Capitol Hill to support the passage of new gun laws.
“Our national legislators need to step up to the plate and protect American lives,” she told The Epoch Times. “Their time is up. Americans are fighting back.”
Spangler echoed the views of many others at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on March 7, where four bills on gun control were introduced and debated.
Three of the bills were passed in the Senate during the course of the week. The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013 (S. 54), proposed by committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), passed that day, 11–7, with ranking member Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) the only Republican to vote in support.
The bill, if enacted, would make it a federal crime to purchase a gun on behalf of someone who is prohibited from buying a gun, known as “straw purchasing.”
“It is designed to prevent criminals from using straw purchasers, who can pass a background check and then hand those firearms to criminals,” Leahy said at the hearing.
The penalty for doing so would be a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Back and Forth
Two other bills passed the Senate on March 12: the Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013 (S. 374) proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013 (S. 146) proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
