Won't say when the time will be right.

Image by Alex Wong / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — As news filtered in Friday from the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said "today is not the day," to engage in a policy debate over gun control.

The shooting at an elementary school killed 27, the Associated Press reported Friday afternoon.

"I think that day will come, but today's not that day, especially as we are awaiting more information about the situation," Carney told reporters in a somber press briefing at the White House.

Carney ducked the question when asked when would be a good time to engage in a substantive debate on gun control, repeating that today isn't the time. Obama has drawn criticism for never making gun control an administration priority.

After 12 people were killed in a movie theater shooting in Aurora, Co. in July, Obama said, "I hope that over the next several days, next several weeks, and next several months, we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence that ends up marring this country," Obama said. Carney was pressed on those remarks, asked whether enough reflection had been done since that tragedy, and Carney declined to answer.

"I really encourage all of us to give a moment here to focus on what is an unfolding tragedy in Connecticut, and not to engage in Washington policy battles of long running today," he said.

Asked about reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban, which Obama has supported but never invested political capital in, Carney said it "does remain a commitment" of the president's.

"The president as a father and I as a father certainly...feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected," Carney added, sharing Obama's reaction. “As a father, incidents like these weigh heavily on him.”

Obama was informed of the shooting at 10:30 a.m. by Homeland Security Adviser John Brennan in the Oval Office. Obama spoke with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy about the shooting, and expressed his concern and condolences, Carney said.

Carney added that the administration will "do everything we can to support state and local law enforcement, to support those who are enduring what appears to be a very tragic event."

Gun control legislation wasn't a priority for Obama on the stump.

Image by Carolyn Kaster, File / AP

Other steps to reduce violence have been met with opposition in Congress. This has been true for some time -- particularly when it touches on the issues of guns. And I, like most Americans, believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms. And we recognize the traditions of gun ownership that passed on from generation to generation -– that hunting and shooting are part of a cherished national heritage.

But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals -- (applause) -- that they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities. I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons; that we should check someone’s criminal record before they can check out a gun seller; that a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily. (Applause.) These steps shouldn’t be controversial. They should be common sense.

So I’m going to continue to work with members of both parties, and with religious groups and with civic organizations, to arrive at a consensus around violence reduction -- not just of gun violence, but violence at every level, on every step, looking at everything we can do to reduce violence and keep our children safe -– from improving mental health services for troubled youth -- (applause) -- to instituting more effective community policing strategies. We should leave no stone unturned, and recognize that we have no greater mission as a country than keeping our young people safe. (Applause.)

And as we do so, as we convene these conversations, let’s be clear: Even as we debate government’s role, we have to understand that when a child opens fire on another child, there’s a hole in that child’s heart that government alone can't fill. (Applause.) It’s up to us, as parents and as neighbors and as teachers and as mentors, to make sure our young people don’t have that void inside them.

It’s up to us to spend more time with them, to pay more attention to them, to show them more love so that they learn to love themselves -- (applause) -- so that they learn to love one another, so that they grow up knowing what it is to walk a mile in somebody else’s shoes and to view the world through somebody else’s eyes. It’s up to us to provide the path toward a life worth living; toward a future that holds greater possibility than taking offense because somebody stepped on your sneakers.

That’s the difference that we can make in our children’s lives and in the lives of our communities. That’s the legacy we must leave for the next generation. (Applause.)

Q Mr. President, we have a question that is very important for us and also our neighbors in Mexico. You have supported the President Calderón policy against drug trafficking. Now, there's a new President who will be taking office at the same time if you were to win. So do you think that after 65,000 deaths it's time to change the strategy? Can you consider the 65,000 a failure and the policy should change?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, obviously, there has been an extraordinary battle within Mexico to try to gain control over territories that, in some cases, have been just terrorized by these drug cartels. And I commend President Calderón for his courage in standing up to these cartels, and we have worked very closely and cooperatively with them in dealing with this issue.

Now, what I will be saying to the new President of Mexico when he takes office is that we want to continue that cooperation, and we recognize this is a threat on both sides of the border. We make a mistake if we just say this is Mexico's problem because we obviously generate a lot of demand for drugs in this country, and guns and cash flow south at the same time as drugs flow north. That’s why --

Q How many more people have to die before this issue --

THE PRESIDENT: Well, what we need to do is to weaken the grip of these drug cartels, and there are a couple of things we can do. Number one, the United States can focus on drug treatment and prevention, and helping people deal with addiction, making sure that young people are not getting hooked on drugs. If we can reduce demand, that means less cash flowing into these drug cartels. And we have actually beefed up our investment and support of prevention, because we have to treat this as a public health problem here in the United States, not just a law enforcement problem.

The other thing that we try to do is to work much more aggressively in preventing the flow of guns and cash down into Mexico. And so interdiction has to work both ways.

But ultimately, Mexico is also going to have to come to terms with the fact that in some communities and in some cities, law enforcement has been outgunned or compromised by the strength of these drug cartels. And we want to help them, but they’re going to also have to take action to continue to keep pressure on these drugs cartels. And that includes not just police, by the way, it also means the judiciary, their prosecutors -- that if they capture drug kingpins that they actually stay in jail.

There’s a whole series of issues involved in law enforcement, and we’re proving them advice, but ultimately they’re a sovereign country and they’re going to have to take some of those steps as well. But we want to be partners with them throughout this process.

MS. CROWLEY: Because what I want to do, Mr. President -- stand there for a second, because I want to introduce you to Nina Gonzalez, who brought up a question that we hear a lot both over the Internet and from this crowd.

Q President Obama, during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you stated you wanted to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. What has your administration done or plan to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?

THE PRESIDENT: We’re a nation that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment. We’ve got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen, and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves.

But there have been too many instances during the course of my presidency where I’ve had to comfort families who have lost somebody -- most recently, out in Aurora. Just a couple of weeks ago -- actually probably about a month, I saw a mother who I had met at the bedside of her son who had been shot in that theater. And her son had been shot through the head. And we spent some time and we said a prayer. And remarkably, about two months later, this young man and his mom showed up, and he looked unbelievable -- good as new. But there were a lot of families who didn’t have that good fortune, and whose sons or daughters or husbands didn’t survive.

So my belief is that, A, we have to enforce the laws we’ve already got; make sure that we’re keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We’ve done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we’ve got more to do when it comes to enforcement.

But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets. And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced, but part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence -- because, frankly, in my hometown of Chicago there’s an awful lot of violence, and they’re not using AK-47s, they’re using cheap handguns.

And so what can we do to intervene, to make sure that young people have opportunity? That our schools are working? That if there’s violence on the streets, that working with faith groups and law enforcement, we can catch it before it gets out of control.

And so what I want is a comprehensive strategy. Part of it is seeing if we can get automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. But part of it is also going deeper and seeing if we can get into these communities and making sure we catch violent impulses before they occur.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor Romney, the question is about assault weapons, AK-47s.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Yes, I’m not in favor of new pieces of legislation on guns and taking guns away or making certain guns illegal. We, of course, don't want to have automatic weapons, and that's already illegal in this country to have automatic weapons.

What I believe is we have to do, as the President mentioned towards the end of his remarks there, which is to make enormous efforts to enforce the gun laws that we have and to change the culture of violence we have. And you ask how are we going to do that? And there are a number of things. He mentioned good schools. I totally agree. We were able to drive our schools to be number one in the nation in my state, and I believe if we do a better job in education, we’ll give people the hope and opportunity they deserve and perhaps less violence from that.

But let me mention another thing, and that is parents. We need moms and dads helping raise kids. Wherever possible, the benefit of having two parents in the home -- and that's not always possible -- a lot of great single moms, single dads, but, gosh, to tell our kids that before they have babies, they ought to think about getting married to someone, that's a great idea, because if there’s a two-parent family, the prospect of living in poverty goes down dramatically. The opportunities that the child will be able to achieve increase dramatically. So we can make changes in the way our culture works to help bring people away from violence and give them opportunity and bring them in the American system.

The greatest failure we’ve had with regards to gun violence in some respects is what is known as Fast and Furious, which was a program under this administration. And how it worked exactly I think we don't know precisely, but where thousands of automatic and AK-47-type weapons were given to people that ultimately gave them to drug lords that used those weapons against their own citizens and killed Americans with them. And this was a program of the government. For what purpose it was put in place, I can't imagine. But it’s one of the great tragedies related to violence in our society which has occurred during this administration, which I think the American people would like to understand fully.

It’s been investigated to a degree, but the administration has carried out executive privilege to prevent all the information from coming out. I’d like to understand, who were the ones that did this, what the idea was behind it, why it led to the violence. Thousands of guns going to Mexico --

THE PRESIDENT: Candy.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: -- drug lords --

MS. CROWLEY: Governor, if I could, the question was about these assault weapons that once were banned and are no longer banned. I know that you signed an assault weapons ban when you were in Massachusetts. Obviously with this question, you no longer do support that. Why is that? Given the kind of violence that we see sometimes with these mass killings, why is that, that you’ve changed your mind?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Well, Candy, actually, in my state, the pro-gun folks and the anti-gun folks came together and put together a piece of legislation. And it’s referred to as an assault weapon ban, but it had, at the signing of the bill, both the pro-gun and the anti-gun people came together because it provided opportunities for both that both wanted. There were hunting opportunities, for instance, that hadn’t previously been available and so forth. So it was a mutually agreed upon piece of legislation.

That’s what we need more of, Candy. What we have right now in Washington is a place that’s gridlocked.

MS. CROWLEY: So if you could get people to agree to it, you’d be for it?

THE PRESIDENT: Candy.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: We haven’t had the leadership in Washington to work at a bipartisan basis. I was able to do that in my state and bring these two together.

THE PRESIDENT: Candy.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: First of all, I think Governor Romney was for an assault weapons ban before he was against it. And he said that the reason he changed his mind was, in part, because he was seeking the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. So that’s on the record.

But I think that one area we agree on is the importance of parents and the importance of schools -- because I do believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they’re less likely to engage in these kind of violent acts. We’re not going to eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed, and we’ve got to make sure that they don’t get weapons, but we can make a difference in terms of ensuring that every young person in America, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, have a chance to succeed.

And, Candy, we haven’t had a chance to talk about education much, but I think it is very important to understand that the reforms we’ve put in place, working with 46 governors around the country, are seeing schools that are some of the ones that are the toughest for kids starting to succeed -- we’re starting to see gains in math and science.

When it comes to community colleges, we are setting up programs, including with Nassau Community College, to retrain workers, including young people who may have dropped out of school, but now are getting another chance -- training them for the jobs that exist right now. And in fact, employers are looking for skilled workers, and so we’re matching them up, giving them access to higher education. As I said, we have made sure that millions of young people are able to get an education that they weren’t able to get before. Now --

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, I have to move you along here. You said you wanted to get this question so we need to do it here.

THE PRESIDENT: Just one second, because this is important. This is part of the choice in this election. When Governor Romney was asked whether teachers -- hiring more teachers was important to growing our economy, Governor Romney said that doesn’t grow our economy.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, it was guns here so I need to move us along. The question was guns so let me --

THE PRESIDENT: But this will make a difference in terms of whether or not we can move this economy forward for these young people and reduce our violence.

View Entire List ›

“If now is not the time to have a serious discussion about gun control…I don’t know when is,” says Rep. Nadler of New York. Meanwhile, most lawmakers steer clear of policy pronouncements.

Image by Yana Paskova / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Friday called for "a serious discussion about gun control" in the wake of a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

“We cannot simply accept this as a routine product of modern American life," Nadler said in a statement. "If now is not the time to have a serious discussion about gun control and the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our society, I don’t know when is."

"How many more Columbines and Newtowns must we live through?" Nadler, of New York, continued. "I am challenging President Obama, the Congress, and the American public to act on our outrage and, finally, do something about this.”

Rep. Mike Honda, a former educator himself, echoed Nadler's sentiment in a post on Facebook.

"This event, much like the numerous other shootings earlier this year, will undoubtedly lead to difficult discussions about safety, public policy and emergency preparedness," Honda, a California Democrat, wrote. "This self-reflection is natural, and it is my hope that we can finally take action to address the root causes of these horrific tragedies together, as a nation."

But so far, most lawmakers have not taken such a bold stance in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, "We are all stunned, shocked, and distraught by this tragic shooting, by this violent act, and by the loss of so many young children." She did not make mention of how Congress might respond legislatively to the shooting.

In other statements and on Twitter, many members of Congress extended their "thoughts and prayers" to those involved in the shooting.

“Nobody's willing to start talking about this stuff, so I asked the White House if we could,” said one poster. One petition now has more than 6,200 signatures.

Via: petitions.whitehouse.gov

The White House petition platform, "We the People," now has postings for as many as three national petitions for a debate on gun control policy.

Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday morning that left at least 26 dead, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at a press briefing that "today is not the day" to engage in a policy debate over gun control.

But the petitions posted on "We the People" call for President Obama to "immediately address the issue of gun control through the introduction of legislation in Congress," reads one.

Another asks that the White House "set a date and time to have a conversation about gun policy in the United States."

Daniel Schultz, a Daily Kos contributor, says he posted his petition because "nobody's willing to start talking about this stuff, so I asked the White House if we could," he told BuzzFeed. "That's all."

A total of 25,000 signatures on either petition will trigger the White House response threshold.

Update: One White House petition — calling on Obama to immediately "produce legislation that limits access to guns" — is picking up momentum. The appeal now has more than 6,200 signatures.

“Our hearts are broken,” the president said after Connecticut school shooting.

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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama struggled to hold back tears addressing the deaths of more than 20 children and educators at a Newtown, Connecticut, school Friday.

Speaking from the White House briefing room, Obama said, "Our hearts are broken today," for the dead, their families, and the survivors.

"The majority of those who died today were children," Obama said, wiping away tears, and pausing to regain his composure. "Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, weddings, kids of their own."

For the first time after a mass shooting, Obama said he will press for "meaningful action regardless of politics," signaling that he may invest political capital on pushing for gun control legislation.

"As a country we have been through this too many times," he added, mentioning shootings in Aurora, Colorado, and Oak Creek, Wisconsin, as well as a "street-corner" in violence-plagued Chicago.

Obama, red-eyed and clearly pained, spoke of his his daughters, saying he first reacted to the shooting as a father. "I know that there is not a parent in America who doesn't feel the same overwhelming grief that I do," he said.

Before speaking, Obama ordered American flags to half-staff until sunset Tuesday.

The flood of new donors is “notably different than any other day,” a Coalition to Stop Gun Violence spokesperson tells BuzzFeed.

A state police SWAT team member runs to a police car as Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, is evacuated after a shooting, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

Image by Cloe Poisson/Hartford Courant/MCT

In the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence says it has seen a "huge" influx of donations.

"I've see a huge increase," a spokeperson for the gun control organization told BuzzFeed. "I have not done anything to add up amounts," she said, emphasizing that the organization's focus today is not on fund-raising. "I had a huge amount of new donors come in, and people have been calling. [It's] notably different than any other day."

"It's really touched people. People are really inspired to do something, anything they can do, to make sure this doesn't happen again," she continued.

A spokesperson for the Brady Campaign, the nation's largest gun control lobbying organization, told BuzzFeed that it hasn't yet been possible to assess the scale of new donations. The organization's site has been online and offline all day, presumably under heavy load.

In a press conference earlier today, President Obama tearfully promised "meaningful action" to prevent further such massacres. Some Democratic congressman are calling for a fresh legislative conversation about gun control. "If now is not the time to have a serious discussion about gun control," said Rep. Nadler of New York, "I don’t know when is."

Asked about today's donations, an NRA spokesperson said she would "put in a request" for more information.

A sad repetitive trend.

Clinton on Columbine

Source: youtube.com

Bush on Virginia Tech

Source: youtube.com

Obama on Sandy Hook

Source: youtube.com

As lawmakers grapple with tragedy, nascent calls for solutions.

Image by J. Scott Applewhite, File / AP

WASHINGTON — A growing group of House and Senate Democratic lawmakers Friday called upon Congress to quickly take up new gun control laws after a man shot and killed dozens of people, including many children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"Today is a day for mourning and prayer, but we must immediately get to work to end these senseless, mass killings of innocent Americans," said Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen. "Together, we must act now to stop the carnage.”

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, long an advocate of stricter gun laws, rued the killings as needless and preventable.

“I hope and trust that in the next session of Congress there will be sustained and thoughtful debate about America’s gun culture and our responsibility to prevent more loss of life," she said.

Such remarks comprised a growing contingent of Democratic voices demanding a sober assessment of gun laws in the wake of the mass shooting.

President Barack Obama, too, said the shooting would require "meaningful action" in response.

But Republicans quietly avoided taking a policy stance in the wake of the mass killing, with most opting instead to offer condolences to the victims and their families.

"The horror of this day seems so unbearable, but we will lock arms and unite as citizens, for that is how Americans rise above unspeakable evil," said House Speaker John Boehner in a statement. "Let us all come together in God’s grace to pray for the families of the victims, that they may find some comfort and peace amid such suffering."

"The House of Representatives – like every American – stands ready to assist the people of Newtown, Connecticut," he added.

“Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough. We need immediate action.”

Image by Mario Tama / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the chorus of lawmakers pressuring President Barack Obama and Congress to take action on gun control in the wake of a mass shooting Friday morning in Newtown, Conn. that killed at least 26.

"President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families," Bloomberg said in a statement to reporters. "But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress."

"For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns," he continued. "Today, many of them were five-year olds."

The Republican-turned-Independent mayor is an outspoken advocate for gun control, and endorsed Obama just before his election earlier this year.

"It has come to [this]," Bloomberg added, "Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe."

“This is not the gun's fault, but guns *do* make this sort of atrocity much, much easier to commit.”

A man grieves next to police staged at the site of a shooting near Sandy Hook Elementary School were a gunman opened fire on school children and staff in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

Image by Adrees Latif / Reuters

"Don't politicize the shooting" has been a common refrain after the mass shootings of 2012, especially among Second Amendment–defending conservatives. But in the wake of Friday's shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut, a few conservatives are bucking the usual routine and indicating an openness to question decades of maxims about access to guns.

"This is not the gun's fault, but guns *do* make this sort of atrocity much, much easier to commit," Townhall editor Guy Benson said on Twitter. "That's indisputable."

Benson maintained that he isn't a "gun-grabber," but "there is a sickness in society. Guns can both exacerbate& mitigate the consequences of that sickness."

Conservative author David Frum was panned on Michelle Malkin's Twitchy site for sending a sarcastic tweet this morning: "Obviously, we need to lower the age limit for concealed carry so toddlers can defend themselves."

Frum followed up with a column arguing that "Every Day is the Day to Talk About Gun Control."

"Almost uniquely in the world, the United States suffers massacre after massacre after massacre: in schools, in workplaces, in movie theaters, on city streets," Frum wrote. "And after each such massacre, there follows a great hushing: don't you dare mention the most obvious reason for this unique American horror":

And I'll say: I'll accept no lectures about "sensitivity" on days of tragedy like today from people who work the other 364 days of the year against any attempt to prevent such tragedies.

It's bad enough to have a gun lobby. It's the last straw when that lobby also sets up itself as the civility police. It may not be politically possible to do anything about the prevalence of weapons of mass murder. But it damn well ought to be possible to complain about them — and about the people who condone them.

A more measured Philip Klein wrote that "Tho misguided, dont think debating gun control is politicizing. Politicizing is blaming political opponents for a tragedy."

There are only a few, and other conservatives have stuck to the regular script, accusing President Obama of politicizing the shooting by giving a speech in which he called for "meaningful action" on Friday. Republican politicians, though they offer prayers and thoughts to the victims' families, have been short on calls for change. The powerful National Rifle Association has been silent on the issue all day, canceling a Twitter chat featuring country singer Colt Ford and even deleting tweets relating to the chat. A spokesman for the NRA did not respond to a request for comment.

Benson and others stand out for daring to question, however cautiously, the absolutes in which people talk about guns. But Republican strategist Ana Navarro doubted that the seeds of change were truly being sown: "We go through the same futile exercise every time people are killed in a senseless shooting incident," Navarro told BuzzFeed. "At the end not a damn thing changes."

Christie leaves policy aside as he addresses the Sandy Hook shooting Friday afternoon at a prescheduled event. “Ten days before Christmas, it's unthinkable…”

Via: youtu.be

A group of 750 mayors, led by Bloomberg, says “meaningful action” isn't good enough. A call for stronger background checks.

Image by John Moore / Getty Images

A coalition of mayors led by New York City's Michael Bloomberg ripped into the Obama administration Friday, accusing White House spokesman Jay Carney of "parroting NRA talking points" in its response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

"Jay Carney pops behind the White House podium and says now is not the time," said Mark Glaze, the director of Mayors Against Illegal guns, a coalition of 750 mayors from across the country.

"I wondered whether Carney realized how precisely he was parroting NRA talking points. Every time there is a mass shooting, they say now is not the time — and the moment of silence stretches on for months and years."

Meanwhile, in a statement released through the coalition, Bloomberg responded directly to the president's promise for "meaningful action."

"Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough," read Bloomberg's statement. "We need immediate action."

Glaze said the "top federal priority" of the mayors coalition would be a push for the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011, a bill first introduced in the House last May following the Tucson shooting in which former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was nearly killed.

"The bill would do two things," said Glaze. "Everybody who buys a gun in this country would have to do a background check, and it would restore the missing millions of records to those background check databases."

Because most guns are purchased online or at gun shows, said Glaze, 40 to 50 percent of people who buy guns don't receive background checks, and many who do aren't properly listed in the background check system. "States are not effectively reporting mental health and drug abuse records in databases," he said.

Asked about reintroducing an assault weapons ban — which, Carney said, remains a "commitment" of Obama's administration — Glaze said the coalition of mayors does not take a position on the policy.

"A lot of our mayors support it, but some don't. The problem is not going to get solved until we fix the background checks," he said. But Bloomberg, who founded the coalition in 2006 with a starting group of 15 mayors, does personally support the assault weapons ban.

"The politics of the issue are so imminently fixable," added Glaze. "There is overwhelming agreement, including among NRA members, that everyone should get a background check."

Shaken by a tragedy, lawmakers broach next policy steps. Where Washington goes from here.

Image by Pool photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa Press via Abaca Press/MCT

WASHINGTON — As Americans struggled to make sense of a mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, lawmakers began to weigh what policy changes, if any, should come in the wake of the shooting.

"We’re going to have to come together to take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics,” the president said during an emotional press conference Friday.

But White House officials declined to elaborate on what Obama meant by "meaningful action," even as pressure mounted from some of his most vocal supporters to take a forceful role in advocating for gun control legislation.

Instead, aides referred reporters to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney's statement earlier Friday, which said that now is not the time for policy debates.

"There is I'm sure...a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates, but I don't think today is that day," Carney told reporters, a line that drew rebuke from gun control advocates.

The White House's response was met with skepticism by lawmakers and advocates, who pressed more urgently for reform.

"We say, Now IS the Time to talk about guns. Now IS the time to prevent more pointless deaths. Now IS the time to Demand A Plan to End Gun Violence," said Mayors Against Illegal Guns in a statement. The group's website personally targets Obama, noting prominently "48,000 Americans will be murdered with guns during President Obama's term."

And dozens of advocates held a vigil outside the White House encouraging Obama to take action.

“Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the anti-gun group's chairman. “We need immediate action.”

Indeed, the focus on the president is a reflection of the fact that any action on gun control will need to be led by the White House — and backed by the full force of Obama's political machine.

"Nothing is going to happen unless the president makes this a priority immediately," said one Senate Democratic aide.

“I hope the President’s words about taking ‘meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this...’ stay true,” said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, one of Congress’ most vocal gun control advocates, whose husband was killed in a mass shooting. She vowed to The New York Times that she is not "going to be shy anymore."

In the wake of mass shootings, particularly those in recent memory, a request to not
"politicize tragedy" has been a common refrain among politicians.

In keeping with that precedent, a host of congressional lawmakers put out statements expressing sympathy for the victims, survivors, and their families, but stopped short of calling for action.

However, some Democratic members of the House and Senate broke with that trend and expressed their unmitigated — in some cases, specific — intent to consider reforms to gun laws during the coming Congress.

Rep. Frank Pallone, whose New Jersey district includes Old Bridge, where a gunman killed two people at a supermarket in August, urged Congress to "enact meaningful, sensible gun control laws."

"It’s time that we do more than hold candlelight vigils to honor the lives that have been lost from guns and take action to stem gun violence," Pallone said.

"This is a wakeup call," tweeted Sen. Barbara Mikulski, of Maryland. "Weapons of war have no place on the streets of America. It's time for Congress to act."

Among most lawmakers, there was hope for a solution — but few specifics.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked that Americans "unite around hope that there will soon come a day when parents no longer fear this kind of violence in our nation again."

"Perhaps an awful tragedy like this will bring us together so we can do what it takes to prevent this horror from being repeated again," said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.

The petition's poster says he's supported Obama, and now wants his money to “go to work.” No administration response yet.

Via: petitions.whitehouse.gov

A petition posted on the White House website Friday afternoon by Brooklyn resident David Glynn passed the 25,000 signature mark, triggering the administration's response threshold.

Glynn's petition asks that the Obama administration "immediately" produce "legislation that limits access to guns."

Glynn, a 31-year-old social media consultant, told BuzzFeed that he posted his petition at 1:51 p.m., and it gained signatures at an average rate of 5,000 every hour. It passed the response checkmark shortly after 6:30 p.m.

"I didn't expect a lot to come from it," said Glynn. "But we had 20 children die today, and it's pretty clear that something is wrong."

Glynn, a longtime Obama supporter who donated to the campaign on several occasions, said he was disappointed that the president didn't more often discuss gun control on the trail this year.

"I was a little bitter in some sense, because I had donated money constantly to the Obama campaign, and he's been silent on the issue," said Glynn. "I sort of demand that my money go to work. It's weird to monetize something like this, but the idea that nothing could come from this — that there could be no change — is unacceptable in my mind."

Glynn said he has not received an email or response from the White House since his petition crossed the 25,000 signature mark. The administration website says that if a petition "gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it’s sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response."

"I actually don't expect a lot to come from it," Glynn said. "But that's part of the whole point — you have these things that are just there to make you feel better, but nothing ever gets done."

The U.S. Secretary of State is recovering at home after fainting from dehydration.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a news conference at Stormont Castle in Belfast December 7, 2012.

Image by NORTHERN IRELAND - Tags: POLITICS / AP

The State Department has reported that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has sustained a concussion after fainting. She has been sick with a stomach virus, and the department says that Secretary Clinton was dehydrated because of her sickness. She is recovering at home while being monitored by doctors. Aide Philippe Reins says that Secretary Clinton will work from home next week at the recommendation of her doctors. Congressional hearings on Benghazi are scheduled for this week, but there was already some question about whether Secretary Clinton would testify. Reins' statement concluded that Clinton "is looking forward to being back in the office soon."

Yesterday's tragedy as told by the covers of 29 foreign newspapers.

Argentina

Source: webmedia.newseum.org

Austria

Source: webmedia.newseum.org

Bahrain

Source: webmedia.newseum.org

Belgium

Source: webmedia.newseum.org

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“Drink from the cup of freedom!”

Source: graphics.nra.org

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We've been down this road before.

President Barack Obama wipes his eye as he talks about the Connecticut elementary school shooting, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, in the White House briefing room in Washington.

Image by Carolyn Kaster / AP

During his first year in office President Obama signed into law more repeals of federal gun policies than President George W. Bush did during his eight years in office, according to the Brady Campaign. The President, speaking after the tragic shooting in Connecticut that took the lives of 20 children said "meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this."

But the President has failed to live up to a promise he made during his first campaign for the presidency during which, he said in an interview with the Chicago Sun Times that he would push for stronger gun laws.

Sun Times: Is there anything the federal, state, or local government can do?

Senator Obama: "There's a bunch of things we can do. I've already said as president I want to restore [federal] COPS funding, which will put police on the streets. Additional police improves public safety. New York has seen a huge drop in crime over the last decade, more than even other cities, and part of it is they've got more cops than anybody else per capita. We've got to help local communities put more police on the streets. We want to make sure we provide state and local government with the targeting information they need, the technology they need to make sure police are going to the places most at risk for gun violence. We've got to tighten up our gun laws. I've said before we should have a much tougher background check system, one that's much more effective and make sure there aren't loopholes out there like the gun show loophole. [Or] The Tiahart Amendment [requiring destruction of gun-purchase records.] Here's an example of something common-sense: The ATF [Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] should be able to share info with local communities about where guns are coming from, tracing guns that are used in criminal activity. It's been blocked consistently in Congress. As president, I'm gong to make sure we know if guns are being sold by unscrupulous gun dealers not abiding by existing laws. We should know about that."

Gun control has moved “to the center, and past it,” say advocates. Quiet consideration of the force that really moves legislation: midterm elections.

Image by Carolyn Kaster, File / AP

After years of arguing that Democrats should be willing to bear the political costs — lost votes in the South, in particular — of gun control measures, advocates Saturday began cautiously to make a different case. Gun control leaders and other progressive figures told BuzzFeed that, whether or not Democrats can get new legislation through Congress, they should be winning elections on the issue of guns.

Gun regulation "is moving to the center, and past it,” said Jim Kessler, who helped Sen. Charles Schumer pass gun control policy in the 1990s before founding the D.C. think tank, Third Way.

“For the first time in decades, Republicans are losing on social issues — they’re losing on same-sex marriage, they’re losing on contraception, and now they could lose on guns because their position is so intractable,” said Kessler. “Except for a vocal minority, people know and expect that something can be done.”

“It’s not that Democrats could do it and make some political gains,” added Mike Lux, founder of the consulting firm Progressive Strategies, and a former aide to President Bill Clinton. “It’s that they have to do it. It’s not only the base, it’s now the American people. They better damn well do it, or people will say what on earth is going on.”

President Obama Friday promised vague "meaningful action" and other political leaders, most vocally New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, have gone further, demanding specific regulations on the most dangerous weapons.

Advocates are now making a new case to Democratic congressional leaders in a language they can easily understand: That if Republicans block legislation — an almost inevitable outcome in the House of the Representatives — that fight could save Democrats from a repeat of the disastrous 2010 midterm elections.

If Republicans block gun measures, "our job is to make sure there’s a consequence and that they’re being held accountable by the public for stifling progress," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Republicans, under this theory, are caught in a trap between the powerful National Rifle Association's uncompromising demands, crucial to primarily politics, and the more moderate view of the general electorate.

“Republicans aren’t going to go against the NRA,” said Lux. “They will absolutely block it, and it’s going to look very bad for them, but their politics are such that they are far more worried about a primary from the right than they are at looking unreasonable to the general public.”

But Kessler added that fighting and losing could only take Democrats so far, and holds out hope for a deal.

“That scenario would work for them politically, but I’m more of the view that you win by getting something done, not just by talking about it.”

President Obama contemplated, and rejected, action on guns after earlier shootings, The New York Times reported Saturday. On the campaign trail — even after the shooting in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead — the president rarely spoke about gun legislation. The hope among advocates, is that the president’s “political calculus is different now than it ever has been before,” said Matt Bennett, a former Clinton aide who co-founded Third Way.

But Democrats have a long history of avoiding a confrontation on guns that could further alienate some of the white men Bill Clinton fought to retain. Since Vice President Al Gore’s failed presidential bid in 2000 — when he lost West Virginia and his home state of Tennessee — Democrats feared they had lost their hold on the rural vote.

“Bill Clinton has said he thought that Al Gore lost in 2000 because he went too far left on guns,” said Kessler.

Obama was elected, by contrast, with a national coalition that relied less on white men and wrote off Appalachian white voters and the states they dominate.

Bennett said the response Friday from donors and supporters of Third Way is “like nothing I’ve ever experienced before,” he said. “The magnitude of the horror of this is so overwhelming that people can’t wrap their heads around it.”

But for Democrats to make a concentrated legislative push, Bennett added, “it would require that this would end up being a pretty fundamentally different tragedy than the ones we’ve had lately.

"No one would have argued that in the wake of those past tragedies a push for new gun laws would have helped Democrats politically, but this time there’s a different possibility," he said.

“Kerry gets a pass.”

Image by Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images

With UN Ambassador Susan Rice's scalp hanging from their belt, Republicans' spear unlikely to stand in the way of Sen John Kerry to replace Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

Following President Obama's reelection last month, Republicans had warned that Kerry could face a repeat of the infamous "swiftboating" he endured during his 2004 presidential bid. But following their success in torpedoing a possible Rice nomination, it now appears Kerry wont face major opposition.

"Kerry gets a pass. He's as good as confirmed," said one top GOP strategist. CNN reported on Saturday afternoon that President Obama is planning to nominate Sen. Kerry.

Although sitting senators have long been given deference by their colleagues when nominated for a post requiring Senate approval, Kerry is a particularly divisive figure since his presidential campaign, and has become one of the leading faces of his party's liberal wing.

But the Rice debacle has sated Republicans' desire for a high profile post-election win against Obama. And it could clear the way for outgoing Sen. Scott Brown to return to the Senate next year.

"He's a senator. No one liked Rice and she's out. And Kerry opens seat for Brown," the strategist said, noting that Sen John McCain, who is friends with Kerry, could ease his way. "McCain, as a former presidential candidate, will make sure behind scenes that we're as respectful and deferential to former presidential candidate as we can be."

Former GOP leadership aide Ron Bonjean told BuzzFeed that "[Kerry] will go through some turbulence, but at this point it seems he would likely be confirmed, especially because of the previous alternative."

Still, Republicans won't simply roll over and will likely use his confirmation as a chance to hammer the Obama administration.

"I don't expect him to have too much trouble. There might be a little resistance here and there but I would guess most of the tough questions focus more on the Obama administration's problems and less on his," a senior GOP leadership aide said Saturday night.