Celebs Join Gun Control Fight on Capitol Hill - East Idaho News
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Celebs Join Gun Control Fight on Capitol Hill

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Getty 020613 ChrisRockAgainstGuns?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1360181954956PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — A group including celebrities Tony Bennett, Chris Rock and Amanda Peet, along with survivors of gun violence, called on Congress to act on President Obama’s gun violence proposals, hoping to bring urgency to Capitol Hill for tougher gun control legislation.

“I’d like the assault weapons to go to war, not in our own country and I’d like assault weapons eliminated,” Bennett said Wednesday, adding that he has still not “gotten over” the Sandy Hook shootings.

The group, led by New York Mayor Bloomberg’s organization “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” is calling for Congress to pass legislation including background checks for all gun sales and an assault weapons ban.

The celebrities were joined by advocates Martin Luther King III, Kerry Kennedy and parents of Virginia Tech students who have seen the effects of gun violence on a personal level.

Congressman Mike Thompson, D-Calif., said the gun control task force he leads on Capitol Hill will have recommendations for Congress in the very near future on the next legislative steps.

“I’m a gun owner, I’m a hunter and I believe in the second amendment. Law abiding Americans have a right to own a firearm,” Thompson said, “but there’s also not only a right but a responsibility to regulate that right to own a firearm.”

Thompson said it is going to take the “responsible middle” in Congress to get legislation passed.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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