In a day of high emotion in Washington as President Obama rolled out his sweeping plan to curb gun violence, Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight summed up the feelings of many gun control advocates with a pithy condensation of congressional gun politics.
"There's this banter in Congress that some have a fear of the gun lobby," the Minnesota law enforcement official said in a special Capitol HIll hearing Wednesday on gun violence. "That might cause them some discomfort, it might even cause them some heartburn. But that's not fear. Fear is what went through the hearts and minds of those 20 children in Connecticut. That's fear."
The witnesses at the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing included Newtown, Conn. School Superintendent Janet Robinson, (left in the photo below), Emily Nottingham, mother of Tucson shooting victim Gabe Zimmerman, Knight (in uniform), and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.
In the background of the AP photo are Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and, to his right, Miya Rahamim, daughter of Accent Signage owner Reuven Rahamim, who was shot and killed along with several others at his Minneapolis company last September by a distraught employee.
