Celebrities call on Congress to back gun control measures

Actor Chris Rock (2nd R) speaks during a press conference hosted by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence with (L-R) singer Tony Bennett, LCPGV Executive Director Robyn Thomas, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) at the U.S. Capitol February 6, 2013 in Washington, DC. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Tony Bennett, Chris Rock, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet and other celebrities today joined joined a coalition of elected officials, law enforcement officers, physicians and others on Capitol Hill in support of President Obama's plan to reduce gun violence.

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Celebrities team up for gun control action

"I still haven't gotten over Connecticut," Bennett said, referring to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and seven adults dead.

In the wake of that tragedy, Mr. Obama has called on Congress to pass a series of gun control measures, such as a ban on assault weapons and universal background checks for gun purchasers. He has also gone on the road to build public support for his agenda.

"I'm just here to support the president of the United States," comedian Chris Rock said. "The president and the first lady are kind of like the mom and the dad of the country, and when your dad says something, you listen. And when you don't, it usually bites you in the ass later on."

• Obama: Don't let pro-gun lobby block "common sense" gun laws
• Bruce Willis says he's against new gun control laws

The celebrities were joined by public figures such as Kerry Kennedy, the late Robert Kennedy's daughter.

"I was four years old when my uncle, President Kennedy, was killed by a man with a gun. I was eight years old when my father, too, was gunned down," she said. "It is almost impossible to describe the pain of losing your father to a senseless murder, or the anger and fear of knowing that murder might have been avoided if only our leaders had acted to stop the violence."

While several celebrities were on Capitol Hill today to back the president, not everyone in Hollywood supports his agenda. Actor Bruce Willis, star of the violent "Die Hard" movies, told the Associated Press he's against new gun control laws that could infringe on rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. He also dismissed any link between Hollywood gun violence and real-life gun violence.

[CWSMTB]

Great news, due to Chicago's successful implementation of strict gun-control laws, violent crimes are so high the police will no longer will respond to 911 calls involving burglary, robbery, car theft, vandalism and others.

Gun control really works in Chicago!

[dutch-mill-68]

@TIMETOEVOLVE - your posts are consistent, I'll give you that.

Is the suffix to your network logon ru, cn, or kp?

[overthehill5]

CBS! YOU CALL THESE CELEBRITIES?

[RickB2400]

I have an idea that will eliminate the need for background checks and save tons of money. Create a national data base with the names and SSN's of all criminals and certified mentally ill people. Make the list public and easy to access. We do it with sex offenders. That way all gun dealers and private citizens will know who not to sell or trade their guns to. Then the average law abiding citizen's rights are not violated and they can own any type rifle that they want to own.
Problem solved - Time to move onto the next subject. I would suggest that the subject that we move onto is school security. We need to DEMAND A PLAN to keep our children safe while they are in school. After all, isn't that what really started the who gun control debate. Seems we are off the topic of protecting our children.

[TimeToEvolve]

Reagan started the War on Unions and the War on the Middle Class and it worked like a charm. It slashed public education, slashed worker pay and concentrated most of the wealth in the hands of the Top 1%. And gun violence has increased and we will soon be shooting each other for cutting in line at the grocery store.

And Reagan started it with the tragic and failed Reaganomics. It created havoc to our government of We the People.

[RickB2400]

Hello TTE. How are you doing today ? I see you are still playing the blame game and politics. What happened to addressing "Common sense"? After all, that's what Chris Rock's daddy wants.

[TimeToEvolve]

Have no reasonable common sense reply? Surprise.

[TimeToEvolve]

The celebrities are targets in our rapidly collapsing post-Reagan economy. I can see why they are mostly progressives and liberals because they know that the other way does not work on any level. And we can all see they are right with wackos saying more guns are answer to everything.

[jonathondf]

"The other way doesn't work", seems to me that things have been getting more and more "progressive for the last 30 or 40 years, and things seem to be getting much worse. Actors know how to memorize and repeat lines for a camera, and you think that life is like a movie? You talk about the "post Reagan economy", seems to me that Clinton's NAFTA and repeal of the Glass-Stegall Act have done more damage to the economy than anything Reagan or the Bush's did.

[TimeToEvolve]

My point was that our failed society with the HUGE gap between rich and poor is the end result of 35 years of privatization and deregulation. And Wall Street buying and running the government for the Top 1%.

[RickB2400]

"The president and the first lady are kind of like the mom and the dad of the country" - Chris Rock
------------------
Dad, when you are not too busy trying to trample on the rights of the American people, will you please consider raising my allowance ?

[RickB2400]

No sir. Didn't miss anything. Just trying to deal with the subject at hand.

[Hope360]

First of all there will never be any type of gun control, it will only come when this world ends of wickedness and wicked people, the damage has been done just like drugs, it has been put , or sold to make it seem legal into communities and into the hands of degenerates, gangs, mentally ill people, and people angered at society and life, the only thing to do now is, to teah the young, youth and teens about the dangers of guns, they talk about gun laws and able to bear arms, to me the only people who should have guns are families for safety, law enforcement or licensed hunters who hunt for food, and even so the guns should be basic hunting rifles for hunters and 38s, 380s or 22s for house and family protection not ar 15s or other assault rifles. The world now as we know it is completely out of hand, but jesus will return to EXTINGUISH ALL OF THE VIOLENCE AND VIOLENT PEOPLE!!!!

[RickB2400]

Good luck defending your home and family with your 22, with a max of 10 rounds, when the criminals are breaking into your home with much larger capacity weapons, with 30 round mags. I HOPE <--(PUN INTENDED) that you and your family survive.

[jonathondf]

"Never be any type of gun control", are you really that ignorant? Military grade assault weapons(fully auto)have been banned since the 30's. In the 60's a bunch more regulations were passed, and they are pretty common sense laws, trouble is they are barely, if at all, enforced. Wasn't it VP Biden that just made the statement that "we don't have time to enforce the existing laws", yet control freaks like Obama and these actors and you say we need more laws, and you lie through your teeth to make up reasons we need more laws.

[Dupkaman]

Tony Bennett thinks gun control with prevent us from becoming Nazi Germany.
This is laughable since the first thing the Nazis did after taking power was to forbid Jews from owning guns. A few years later they disarmed the rest of the population. Comedians and singers making policy....just what the country needs.

[btrdb]

Hollywood...biggest bunch of hypocrites in the nation next to DC politicians. They are all mouthy and for gun control. so, tell me...do you think they'll give up THEIR 24/7 armed body guards as a show of good faith?? Didn't think so.