Moran Criticizes Bush, Calls for Gun Control - David Mark - POLITICO.com

A day after the carnage at Virginia Tech, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), in a spate of politically blunt criticism, urged President Bush to pursue stricter gun control.

"The first President Bush, the 41st, is the one that imposed that assault weapons ban because so many were coming into the country from China. This President Bush has allowed it to expire," Moran told a local radio show. "Well, you know, if he's serious about doing whatever he can to stop the potential for this carnage, that might be one place to start."

Backlash against the congressman's remarks was fast and furious.

"Less than 24 hours after the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history, liberal Rep. Jim Moran took to the airwaves to launch a political attack against President Bush, congressional Republicans and the National Rifle Association," wrote contributor "Bluey" on the conservative blog Redstate.com. Similar criticism of Moran and fellow gun control supporters spread like wildfire across the conservative blogosphere.

In an interview with The Politico later, Moran dismissed critics' charges that he was politicizing the tragedy.

"As a legislator, your immediate reaction is to think something could be done to avoid this. I don't know why the idea of figuring out how to avoid it is a political partisan issue," he said. "I know there's going to be a lot of criticism. I hear it all the time."

Moran blamed the president and the gun lobby for blocking new gun control legislation.

"As long as we give the NRA such a free ride," Moran said, "we will continue to have such tragedies time and time again."

At the White House, Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino sought to steer clear of the hot issue.

"We understand that there's going to be and there has been an ongoing national discussion, conversation and debate about gun control policy. Of course we are going to be participants in that conversation," she said. "Today, however, is a day that is time to focus on the families, the school, the community."

Moran was among just a few lawmakers to explicitly link the Virginia Tech shootings to public policy prescriptions. Most tried to walk a fine line between expressing sorrow and pushing any agendas.

"My heart goes out to the families of the victims in this moment of heartbreak and pain," said Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.), who backed the 1994 bill banning the manufacture and possession of 19 types of semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. "I hope that it gives the families some small measure of relief to know that the entire nation will have them in our thoughts and prayers."

And said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee: "We will certainly want to explore every possible avenue toward determining what can be done to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future, whether on our college campuses or on business premises."

But Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), like Moran, took the issue head on.

"It is my deep belief that shootings like these are enabled by the unparalleled ease with which people procure weapons in this country," Feinstein said. "And I believe this will reignite the dormant effort to pass common-sense gun regulations in this nation."