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US Gun Lobby Silent: School Shooting Developments

18 December 2012 23:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. With much of the United States still reeling from the devastating elementary school shooting massacre last week, the National Rifle Association (NRA) – one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the US – remained silent Tuesday, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

No public words of condolences for the victims’ families. No rhetoric opposing the calls for gun control legislation. No response to the hundreds of protesters who showed up outside the NRA’s Washington office on Monday. And no reply to the scathing criticism on its Twitter page.

Its last posting – just hours before the shooting that killed 20 young children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut – offered followers a chance to win an auto emergency tool.

Its Facebook page has been taken down, and the organization did not respond to several requests for comment from RIA Novosti. But the silence is unlikely to continue.

"If Congress goes after the lawful ownership of guns, they'll deal with very difficult reelection campaigns in coming years," said Richard Feldman, a former NRA lobbyist and president of a gun rights group, in an interview with CNN.

In other developments related to the shooting:

· Two more funerals were held Tuesday. Six-year-old victims James Mattioli and Jessica Rekos were laid to rest. Two children were buried Monday and the remaining 22 school shooting victims will be buried in the coming days.

· Most students in Newtown schools returned to classes Tuesday for the first time since the shooting. Sandy Hook Elementary remains closed while school officials try to locate another facility for classes as the police investigation at the school continues.

· Republicans in the US House of Representatives discussed the issue of gun control at a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Some congressional Republicans – who traditionally oppose any suggestion of gun control legislation – said afterwards they were willing to discuss the issue, according to The Associated Press.

· The entertainment industry responded to the shooting by cancelling some television shows, delaying others, and adding audience warnings about potentially disturbing material. The Weinstein Company halted Tuesday’s premiere of the graphically violent movie “Django Unchained.” The TLC television network announced it would postpone a planned December viewing of “Best Funeral Ever” about a Texas funeral home until sometime in January. A New York City screening of “Jack Reacher,” a violent movie starring Tom Cruise, was cancelled on Monday. Cable network HBO replaced planned showings of the crime thriller “Contraband” with two romantic comedies.

· A survey found the US public pretty evenly divided as to whether the shootings were just the acts of a troubled individual or an indication of a broader problem in American society. The nonprofit Pew Research Center also found women were more likely than men and college graduates were more likely than those with no more than a high school education to find that the shootings reflect a broader problem.

· The US Conference of Mayors urged President Barack Obama and members of Congress to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, strengthen national background checks and strengthen so-called straw purchases, in which legal buyers purchase guns for others. The group sent an open letter to the president and Congress on Tuesday.

· National retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Tuesday it was halting certain gun sales nationwide including semi-automatic rifles and pulled all guns from its stores near the shooting site. The company said it was a move made out of respect for the victims and their families during a time of mourning. It was not clear when the company might resume gun sales.

· Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced Tuesday it would sell off its interest in firearms companies – including Bushmaster, which produced the rifle used in the school shooting. “It is apparent that the Sandy Hook tragedy was a watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level,” the company said in a statement.

· Several firearms makers saw a significant decline in stock that has continued in the days since the shooting, including Smith & Wesson, Sturm Ruger and Cabela’s, which sells outdoor gear including guns and ammunition, the Washington Post reported. “Every time one of these tragic events occurs, there’s certainly a flurry of discussion over whether or not the government may tighten gun-control legislation,” security analyst Rommel Dionisio told the Post. It could be different this time, he said, because of “the use of what can be considered an assault rifle and certainly the number of children, and the fact that it was very young children.”