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Mother of Noah Pozner Makes Emotional Anti-Gun Plea

With Hanukkah Photo, Veronique Pozner Calls for Strict Laws

By Forward Staff

(Page 2 of 3)

Pozner suggested that she had not thought much about the issue of gun control until the Newtown massacre forced her to address it. She argued that stricter rules particularly on assault weapons that can fire many rounds quickly would make it more difficult for anyone to carry out a mass shooting like at Newtown.

“The equation is terrifyingly simple: Faster weapons equal more fatalities,” Pozner said. “Possession of any assault weapon regardless of the date of purchase ought to be illegal.”

She pointed out that Adam Lanza was easily able to get his hands on weapons because his mother, a gun enthusiast, owned them legally. Lanza used the sophisticated weapons to gun down his mother before going to the school and carrying out the rampage there. Investigators still do not know what caused him to snap or why he targeted the school.

Those facts, Pozner said, should encourage lawmakers to consider enacting mandatory licensing for all guns and mandatory liability insurance for all gun owners. Such laws would force owners to evaluate whether their desire to own a gun is worth the potential cost to themselves and to society.

“Motor vehicle owners are required to carry liability insurance on their vehicles,” she said. “The same should apply to gun owners.”

More than 500 people were expected to speak at the Bipartisan Task Force On Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety hearing in Hartford, less than an hour’s drive from the scene of the Newtown shooting.

Neil Heslin, father of Newtown victim Jesse Lewis, said there is no reason to allow civilians to own assault weapons.

“I still can’t see why any civilian, anybody in this room in fact, needs weapons of that sort,” Heslin said, according to The Courant of Hartford. “You are not going to use them for hunting or even for home protection.”

Steven Barton, who was shot and wounded in the movie theater rampage in Aurora, Colo., also called for new gun restrictions.