Holder urges mayors to pressure Congress on guns

Attorney General Eric Holder, flanked by Houston, Texas Mayor Annise Parker, left, and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole, speaks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 81st winter meeting in Washington, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. / AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Attorney General Eric Holder urged the nation's mayors today to pressure Congress to move forward on gun control legislation President Obama recently proposed.

"Some have said that these changes will require 'tough' votes by members of Congress," Holder said at the U.S. Conference of Mayors event in Washington, D.C. " Public service is never easy, and there come times when those of us who are in elected or appointed positions must put the interests of those we are privileged to serve above that which might be politically expedient or professionally safe. This is one of those times."

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Holder: Time for "common sense" steps on gun violence

Holder said it is "essential" that Congress pass bans on high-capacity magazines and on assault weapons. He also said Congress should pass new laws requiring universal background checks for gun purchasers and placing tougher penalties on gun traffickers. "It means taking action to ensure that, while our Second Amendment rights are upheld, we have the means to prosecute effectively those who use firearms to commit acts of violence," he said.

A new CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday found that most Americans favor the president's proposals.

• Poll: Majority of Americans back stricter gun laws
• Obama calls for sweeping new gun laws

Holder was perhaps talking to a captive audience. Several of the mayors in attendance met with Vice President Joe Biden yesterday on the issue of gun violence. And 800 mayors have already joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's new group, Demand a Plan, pushing Congress to act.

Holder broadened the context of gun violence from the mass shootings of Newtown and Aurora to the daily violence that "plague[s] our cities and towns every day."

"This unspeakable tragedy, and the individual tragedies that take place on your streets all too often and all too often unnoticed, stand as stark reminders of our shared responsibility to address not just the epidemic of gun-related crimes, and the ongoing need for vigorous enforcement of our laws - but also the underlying conditions that give rise to gun violence," Holder said.

[stand_up_to_them]

I'd still like to know why this crook is AG and not in jail!

[ammo17]

you tell them eric,after all didn`t you send over 2000 of these weapons into the hands of the drug cartels in mexico?what kind of background check did you and the a.t.f. use,you are a disgrace to our country.

[Foxfire55]

This is pure bunk. The majority do NOT support more gun laws. They support enforcement of the laws we have and dealing with the root cause of these incidents - mental illness. This current government is precisely why the forefathers put the 2nd Amendment in The Constitution.

[h_al11]

Holder et al don't seem to get it. The Second Amendment isn't a placeholder. It's not meant to change incrementally when politicians feel like it. The Supreme Court held in 2008 (DC v. Heller) that weapons in "common use" couldn't be restricted. And since so-called assault weapons are in common use, the Supreme Court would never uphold a ban on them. (Not that Congress will pass a ban.)

[TimeToEvolve]

Thanks to Obama for suggesting these new gun rights laws. And on top of that they are pro-life laws. Come on right wingers jump on board and help me congratulate Obama for protecting and strengthening the second amendment.

[stand_up_to_them]

you are a new kind of idiot arent you?

[Type_Z]

He means "brainwash".

[DOGGYPANTS]

It was Holder's organization that shipped Assault weapons to Mexican criminal who killed an American agent. Listening to Holder about gun control is like listening to K Kilpatrick talk about government ethics.

[BigMykul]

Like Michael Moore talking about dieting

[empirebuilder]

LMAO !!!!!!! Hoping for help before sentencing??????? Jerk needs to spend some time with the brothers in the hooskow!!!!! Take that damn smirk off his face

[kcreligion]

Anybody suffering an injury or family death because of these gun rules should sue the federal government and Obama and any other offical who put their life in danger.

[arthanyel]

I disagree with the "assault weapon" and "high capacity magazine" ban but anyone that is injured or killed as a result of them (if its even possibl it is a single person) is dwarfed by the number killed or injured by those weapons WITHOUT the ation. So while I disagree and do not support the bans, I think your comment is silly.

[SUZAMBA]

You do realize, that your remark is rather ridiculous. Especially
since you can buy almost anything on the blackmarket! How do you
plan to control and sue them, when in all these years no one has?

[jgg000010]

how is it that eric holder - who predided over "fast and furious" whereby automatic weapons were sold to mexican drug cartels and resulted in the death of a border agent, and rahm emmanuel - who presides over the city with the strictest gun laws and the highest gun murder rate feel they have the authority to tell anyone about gun control legislation???

and on another front, after the events in benghazi and now algeria, and the new report that the treasury will lose $12B in the GM bailout that the taxpayers will never get back, do any of these statements ring hollow to you? "Al Qaeda is on the run", "Al Qaeda is decimated", "Bin Laden is dead, GM is alive!" How anyone cannot realize that we are having steam shot up our collective butts is just amazing.

[arthanyel]

Conservative propaganda.

1) Holder didn't "preside over" fast & Furious, it happened while he was the AG - he didn't know anything about it in advance of the news breaking, as has been PROVEN. Also F&F didn't "sell guns to Mexican cartels" - the sales and transportation were all illegal and done by criminals, they just didn't STOP them since they were trying to track them to their destination. Big difference.

2) Chicago has strict gun laws because they have a lot of gun violence, which makes the mayor very well acquainted with gun violence. You may not agree that tough laws reduce violence (and there is plenty of evidence to back you up on the belief) but certainly Chicago has the experience, as does DC and New York. And you may not agree with their recommended solutions (I don't either, for many of them) but they DO have the experience to comment.

3) None of the statements ring hollow - they are all correct.

Al Qaeda is decimated, and on the run. They are not completely dead. They have been completely stopped in attacks in the US. And their activities have been reduced.

Bin Laden is dead. Hard to debate that one.

GM is alive. Yes, taxpayers are likely to not get all the money back, but they are still alive and they wouldn't be without the government intervention. And given the impact of GM on the US economy (annual revenues of about $150B) the $12B "loss" (if it actually turns out that way) is still a good investment.