12/21/12 - As the nation's largest gun-rights lobby is calling for armed police officers to be posted in every American school to stop the next killer "waiting in the wings," Livingston Countyâs voice in Congress is advocating a look at the nationâs mental health treatment as opposed to new gun laws. The National Rifle Association broke its silence today on last week's shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school that left 26 children and staff dead. The group's top lobbyist, Wayne LaPierre, said "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." But for Congressman Mike Rogers, the core issue in many of these mass shootings concerns the mental state of the shooter. The Howell Republican says an examination of the nation's mental health system, most importantly early intervention, is a much more effective way to try and avoid tragedies like what happened in Connecticut. President Obama this week launched an interagency task force led by Vice President Biden and called on Congress to take action to ban assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips by renewing the Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2004. But Rogers said there needs to be a cooling-off period before any legislative efforts are made on gun control and that simple (quote) âdusting off old legislationâ, isnât the best way to move forward. (JK)
↧