Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., urged Republicans to find the “willpower and intestinal fortitude” to buck the National Rifle Association and pass stricter gun laws following the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
Feinstein emboldened her Republican colleagues to pass legislation addressing gun violence in the weekly Democratic address published Friday, and noted that in the five years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Congress failed to pass gun control measures.
“There’s so much we can do,” Feinstein said. “We just need the willpower and intestinal fortitude to take on the NRA and get something done for the safety of the men, women, and particularly the children in our schools of this country.”
The Democratic senator called for a ban on military-style semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15, which she described as “weapons of war.” Feinstein introduced a bill last year banning the sale of some semi-automatic rifles.
“An assault weapons ban won’t stop all the shootings, I don’t kid myself, but if we can decrease the death count, we’re saving life, and that, that means it’s really worth doing,” she said.
Feinstein urged Congress to pass legislation expanding background checks, banning high-capacity ammunition feeding devices and bump stocks, and assisting states with implementing legal procedures that allow for the removal of guns from those who may be a threat to themselves or others.
Those measures, known as gun violence restraining orders, allow family members or law enforcement to obtain a court order prohibiting a person from buying or possessing a firearm.
Feinstein also called for a federal law raising the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21.
“If you can’t buy a beer, you shouldn’t be able to buy an AR-15,” she said. “It seems to be that this really is a no-brainer.”
Feinstein was one of several members of the House and Senate who gathered at the White House for a bipartisan meeting Wednesday to discuss school safety.
President Trump has backed some of the measures mentioned by Feinstein in her address, including expanding background checks and raising the age to purchase semi-automatic weapons.
“I hope that can be a lesson for the Congress that Republicans need to finally allow Congress to pass these common-sense measures,” Feinstein said.
