Gun Violence Renews Legislative Debate

The massacre at a Wisconsin church service 10 days ago left Corey Graff outraged.

Outraged at the loss of life, of course. But furious, too, at state legislators who have refused to grant citizens the right to carry concealed handguns.

Graff plans to push the issue again this spring. This time, the Wisconsin activist hopes that lawmakers will imagine themselves in that church service -- cowering, crying, wishing they had a gun at hand to defend themselves.

"Hopefully something positive can come out of the tragedy," Graff said.

With dozens of gun-related bills working their way through state legislatures around the country, activists on both sides of the issue have come to regard a recent spate of high-profile shootings as a catalyst to advance their causes.

Deadly shootings at courthouses in Atlanta and Tyler, Texas, the slaying of a judge's family in Chicago, a horrific weekend of violence in Philadelphia and the rampage at a church service in Brookfield, Wis., form an emotional backdrop to ongoing debates in a number of state capitols.

Both sides are careful to say they do not want to politicize the incidents. Lawmakers and activists also acknowledge that the violence is unlikely to sway many votes, since politicians' positions on gun issues tend to be firmly fixed.

"I try not to form my public policy decisions in response to specific events," said Nebraska state Sen. Adrian Smith, a Republican.

Still, he said, hearing about so many brutal incidents in such quick succession "gives you pause.... You think, 'How can we try to prevent something like that from happening again?' "

Smith's answer, in part, is to push a bill that would let Nebraskans carry concealed weapons, as citizens of 46 states can. Pro-gun legislation pending elsewhere in the nation includes a measure in Utah to allow hidden handguns in cars and a bill in Tennessee that would let residents take firearms into schools, day-care centers and bars.

Plenty of gun control legislation is also on the table. Washington, Oregon, Florida and several other states are considering banning assault weapons. Connecticut, New Jersey and New York may block the sale of .50-caliber rifles, as California did last year.

The recent bloodshed "definitely has an impact" on such debates, said Jonathan Lackland, a gun control lobbyist who works Midwest statehouses. He's hoping, in particular, that the incidents motivate lawmakers to expand background checks of gun buyers. Bills to require background checks at gun shows are pending in at least four states: Arizona, Illinois, Iowa and Washington.