Sen. Grassley (Iowa):
Opening remarks. The deaths in Newtown should not be used to put forward every measure of gun control. Talks of mental health. Lack of civility in american society has grown in the last couple of decades. Video games celebrate mass killings of people and find their way into hands of children. Should not rush to pass legislation that will not reduce mass violence. Should not ban guns based on appearance. 94 AWB did not stop Columbine, etc. Large magazines are not the problem. We hear that nobody needs, etc., hunters don't need large magazines, but a criminal unlike a deer shoots back. We can probably do something about straw purchases.
The president's 23 executive actions. Some of them seem reasonable. But despite promises of transparancy we still do not have the text of what these actions actually are. No law actually prevents gun violence research in the first place.
The constitution creates a limited Federal government. It protects state power against federal power. The bill of rights was added to increase this protection. Obama's remarks turns the constitution on its head: eg. he said victims of recent shootings are denied their fundamental rights. But this is not so - with the exception of the prohibition on slavery, the constitution limits only actions of government, not individuals. Eg. the right to peacefully assembly is mischaractarized as the right to watch movies and shop. The president accuses the opposition of stirring up far of government tyranny, but the presidents comments lead people to reasonably believe that their individual rights could be violated.