Colorado shooting: Barack Obama weighs in on gun law

But while Mr Obama pledged to “arrive at a consensus around violence
reduction” analysts say there is little prospect of major change in US
gun laws, a subject which has proved such a divisive political issue in the
past.

Democrats remain scarred by the memory of heavy midterm election defeats in
1994 that followed hard on the heels of President Bill Clinton forcing
through a now-lapsed 10-year ban on assault weapons, provoking a furious
backlash from gun lobby groups.

Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential hopeful whose party grass-roots are
staunch defenders of the right to bear arms, said on his visit to London
that tougher legislation was not the way to address America’s epidemic of
gun crime.

“I don’t happen to believe that America needs new gun laws,” he told
NBC news, “A lot of what this … young man did was clearly against the
law.

But the fact that it was against the law did not prevent it from happening,”
he said.

Mr Romney added: “We can sometimes hope that just changing the law will
make all bad things go away. It won’t. Changing the heart of the American
people may well be what’s essential, to improve the lots of the American
people.” The National Rifle Association, the hugely powerful pro-gun
lobby group, has so far refused to join the debate on gun controls since the
Denver massacre. “The NRA believes that now is the time for families to
grieve and for the community to heal,” said Andrew Arulanandam, the
group’s director of public affairs.

In Denver, as the first funerals and memorial services for 12 victims of last
week’s cinema shootings were held, reports have emerged of several of those
wounded in the attacks fear they will be unable to meet their medical bills.

The family of a 23-year-old aspiring comic, Caleb Medley, who is in critical
condition with a head wound and whose wife Katie, gave birth to their first
child on Tuesday, announced it was courting online donations.

Family and friends said they had set a goal of raising $500,000 to cover his
hospital bills and other expenses and were more than halfway there.

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