the brady bill was named after james brady president reagan's press secretary who was shot and paralyzed during the handgun assassination attempt on president reagan it took twelve years for legislation to finally be passed in congress when a democrat bill clinton took over the presidency. what is that brady gun control act do all the brady bill does is let's make sure that at this moment right now we're not selling a gun to someone who's got a criminal history that's the thrust of the brady bill the instant background check system. a year later clinton passed the federal assault weapons ban which did criminalize possession of almost an entire class of firearms. the assault weapons ban expired a little fanfare in two thousand and four and democrats have not spoken about renewing it since returning to power. how did the n.r.a. did the so-called assault weapons ban stick finger pin burning waiting periods gun registration gun owner licensing and two generations worth of a and i gun schemes and i gun schemers the n.r.a. is able to prevent publicly supported gun control legislation from pass

pass we the people through our representatives in congress pass common sense gun control laws the brady bill was passed in one thousand nine hundred three foreseen background checks and firearms purchasers and in one thousand nine hundred four the assault weapons ban was passed outline certain semiautomatic firearms and high capacity magazines all the brady bill is still in place the assault weapons ban expired in two thousand and four and the bush administration chose not to ask that it be renewed seven years later congresswoman gabby giffords was shot in the head and six people were killed when a mentally disturbed man opened fire in tucson arizona is you know high capacity magazines filled with thirty one bullets that would have been outlawed under the assault weapons ban after that shooting common sense should have told us that it's time to renew the ban get weapons of mass destruction off our streets and put in place better checks to make sure the mentally ill aren't arming up but none of that happened and now a year later here we are again weapons being used that would have been banned

you had the assault weapons ban in 1994, the brady bill. significant things have changed that brought about what the obama white house is now saying. one gets to what bloomberg said, gun control versus crime control. this was seen as a crime control issue because there was a sense among independent suburban voters that crime was out of control. you had a poll in '93 that said the top issue in the country was crime. violent crime has come so far down the last 20 years that there's that urgency, that popular urgency behind we need to do something on crime is gone. the second thing is, democrats in 2000 decided after al gore lost to george w. bush, they decided they lost because blue collar white voters in places like west virginia, you know, throughout, made inroads in kentucky, tennessee, arkansas, missouri, those voters were turning on the democratic party because of guns and what you've seen over the last decade has been in polling, there has been a real dramatic rise in terms of how important blue collar white voters think the issue of gu

governor mitt romney in 2007 said on the issue, "when the brady bill was first passed, there really wasn't internet that we have to make an instant check. today, we can." going on to say, "i don't think for a minute that checking someone's background to make sure they're not a criminal or they're not insane is in any way a violation of the second amendment." but critics like new york mayor michael bloomberg want more. they point to years like 2010, when 171 firearm injuries and 24 deaths happened every day, on average, according to the cdc and fbi. while home gun ownership has trended down from the '90s, as you see here, in the last year it has ticked up slightly to 47% in terms of home ownership, according to gallup. now, objection to a handgun ban has hit an all-time high. that's gone up, up to 73%, saying no ban is needed. now, the reason, perhaps, here, as political rights, democrats who embraced a ban are gone, and those in office have had tough fights with the gun lobby. >> thank you so much, richard. i want to bring in new york congresswoman, carolyn maloney. it's good to see you. a

years later, he joined ronald reagan, also, a republican, in support of the brady bill, which the nra, made it illegal to import assault weapons. there was a time in modern history where you could be a national political figure, a national republican, and be in favor of gun control. today, that is about as common as a unicorn riding a dodo bird with the transit of venus floating by in the background. today, even most democrats stay out of the nra's way. why pick a fight you're just going to lose? obama's mostly taken that advice, he hasn't picked that fight. in fact, if you calculate the number of new gun control policies he's advocated in his first term, you come up with one, and that is a negative one, by the way. under obama, there's been not one new piece of control legislation passed on the national level, but there has been an expansion of gun rights. as of 2010, your national parks are now armed. it is now legal to carry loaded weapons into yellowstone, yosemite, arcadia, and the grand tetons. the obama administration has overseen an expansion, not contraction of gun rights. ev

eer foley, dicd the president when he decided to push ahead with the assault weapons ban and the brady bill, which have now both expired. foley and gephardt said this is going to cost us a lot of democratic seats in the midterm and it did. the situation has gotten worse. you can't even get congress to prohibit people who are on the terrorist watch list from buying weapons, they won't accept that. david, you're right, we're going to have to focus on the person because we're not going to be able to do anything about the guns. we've reached a state of stopping on this issue and we're not going to move on. >> it a lot of gun rights advocates say that's where we ought to be. even the democratic governor of the state said forget the guns, the guy was building bombs, he could have done either if he wanted to carry out this attack. >> that's right. it's orthodoxy in the democratic party that the majority was lost because of the pass of the assault weapons bill. there is not going to be any further gun control measures passed by the u.s. congress, it's an absolutely settled issue. people absolutely

dick gephardt and the president when he decided to push ahead with the assault weapons ban and the brady billpired. foley and gephardt said this is going to cost us a lot of democratic seats in the midterm and it did. the situation has gotten worse. you can't even get congress to prohibit people who are on the terrorist watch list from buying weapons, they won't accept that. david, you're right, we're going to have to focus on the person because we're not going to be able to do anything about the guns. we've reached a state of stopping on this issue and we're not going to move on. >> it a lot of gun rights advocates say that's where we ought to be. even the democratic governor of the state said forget the guns, the guy was building bombs, he could have done either if he wanted to carry out this attack. >> that's right. it's orthodoxy in the democratic party that the majority was lost because of the pass of the assault weapons bill. there is not going to be any further gun control measures passed by the u.s. congress, it's an absolutely settled issue. people absolutely will not take on the nra

almost 60 house republicans voted for the brady bill. regional division in both parties. and what's happened since is the republican party has completely locked down. there is virtually unanimity in opposing gun control. and the democratic party has concluded it's not a winning issue. but the reality is that the public is now divided almost exactly in half on gun issues. the half that is opposed to it are the half beyond obama's reach on anything. and within the democratic coalition, within his coalition, if you look at people who say they are going to vote for him, it is still a 60% to 65% proposition. it's an unusual issue, unlike gay marriage and illegal immigration and health care, where they are bowing to voters outside of their coalition. they don't do that a lot very much in modern politics. >> piers is not saying take away all of your guns. >> no, i'm not. >> piers, what you're saying i agree with. you can have a .9 millimeter, a .38, all of these guns. you're simply saying, ban the ak-47. for those people on the people who say i

happens since the 90s, republicans have moved towards monolivic opposition, i think 60 voted for the brady billnd you see democrats back off on this issue but i think the evidence is clear that within the coalition, clearly the country is divided almost xablgtly in half. but within the democratic coalition this is still clearly a majority position and it makes it interesting on issues like gay marriage and contraception fight in health care, -- reflecting views of coalition, this is a big exception. they are still gun shy. >> ron brownstein, thanks for being here, editorial director, always good to see you. >> we could talk to him for hours, couldn't we? appreciate it. let's get you up to date. the final countdown begins to the opening ceremonies in london. thousands of top athletes, 18,000 troops on hand for the start of the summer olympics. the queen is expected to kick things off and paul mccartney is lined up to perform as well. >>> the national weather service working to confirm reports of a tornado touching down in elmira. significant damage with trees and power lines down everywhere. sev

listen, there was a president named bill clinton who had the guts to stand up on these issues. he did it in 1993. signing the brady law. 1994, he added another law. an assault weapons ban then he came up with the bullet law. three laws. and he got re-elected. he showed some leadership. we don't see that today. >> gloria, you take a look at the polls regarding gun control and there has been a huge shift among americans over the past two decades from one side of the issue to other. is there a sense on what's driving that change? >> as david was saying, you might go back to 1994, when bill clinton and the congress actually passeded that ban on assault weapons, which has since expired. and when they passed that ban on assault weapons, then gun owners decided, and the nra decided, they needed to make sure that what that ban expired, that nobody would renew it. and it became a single issue for an awful lot of voters. and then also i think, anderson, you look at the sort of anti-government attitudes now that seem to be on the increase. we see that with the rise of the tea party for example. and if you're anti-big governm

view is, the assault weapons ban that was passed which was a rather modest bill, less important in saving lives than the brady law by many, many degrees, but i would argue it's a reasonable thing to do. a limitation that says you shouldn't be able to buy a thousand clips. it's a reasonable -- magazines that have a thousand rounds in them, i mean. that's a reasonable thing to do. rules that say we should be able to trace where a gun originated so that we can find those who are violating some of these limitations, like the brady laws, gun shops that don't check your background even though they're required to by law is a reasonable thing to do. now, again, we can debate where to draw the line of reasonableness but we might, might, might -- and i don't want to be too optimistic here, having years and years of gone through this -- but we might be able to come to an agreement in the middle where we say, yes, there's a right to bear arms and, yes, there can be reasonable limitations on the second amendment, just as there can be on others. and that is the place i'd suggest we try to go. maybe, maybe we can break thro

sadly these bills remain stalled in the liberal controlled senate. this week in the house led by kevin brady will vote on the red tape reduction and small business act, and once again attempt to remove government red tape prohibiting america's job creators from achieving economic success and creating jobs. i hope we can work together to support this legislation. in conclusion, god bless our troops, we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: mr. secretary. the secretary: i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute. revise and extend if necessary. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman seek unanimous consent? mr. cohen: thank you, mr.