Gun law back on US political agenda Senior Democratic lawmakers called for tougher gun laws in the wake of the fatal shootings at an elementary school in Connecticut, as they tried to jolt a paralysed US political system into action to prevent further bloodshed. But finding political consensus for tougher gun laws will be an uphill struggle for Barack Obama. Republicans, who are generally opposed to tightening restrictions on gun ownership, control the House of Representatives, and even some Democratic senators running for re-election in conservative states in 2014 may not support new legislation. However Dianne Feinstein of California, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that on the first day of the new Congressional term in January she would introduce a bill reinstating a ban on assault weapons that lapsed in 2004. It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession [of assault weapons]. Not retroactively but prospectively. And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets," Ms Feinstein said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Chuck Schumer, the New York senator, and Dick Durbin, the Illinois senator, both members of the Democratic leadership in the upper chamber, joined the call, suggesting the massacre in Connecticut could be a tipping point for the debate over gun control in the US. "I think that what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, may at least lead some to finally decide to sit down and have this conversation," Mr Durbin said on Fox News on Sunday, suggesting the impact on public opinion could be comparable to the terrorist attacks of 2001. I really think we may have a chance [of passing an assault weapons ban] because of this terrible tragedy. That's what happened after 9/11. It can happen after Newtown, Connecticut, as well," Mr Durbin said. In the wake of the shootings on Friday, Mr Obama called for "meaningful action" to prevent similar tragedies. Although the president supports reinstating the assault weapons ban, he did not push for it aggressively during his first term, and it remains unclear how forcefully Mr Obama will seek new gun legislation during his second term. The president was set to travel to Connecticut on Sunday evening to speak at a vigil and meet with families of the 27 victims of the shooting, including 20 children aged six and seven who were attending first grade. Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, urged Mr Obama to make gun control a top priority. This should be his number one agenda. He's the president of the United States, and if he does nothing during his second term, something like 48,000 Americans will be killed with illegal guns," Mr Bloomberg told NBC's Meet the Press. "That is roughly the number of Americans killed in the whole Vietnam war," he said. Few Republicans were willing to appear on television on Sunday to discuss the need for new gun laws. But Louie Gohmert, a Republican congressman from Texas, said he wished the school principal in Connecticut had been armed. "I wish to God she had had an M4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out ... and takes him out and takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids," Mr Gohmert said, adding that the right for Americans to bear arms was sacrosanct to help defend themselves against tyranny. Once you start drawing the line, where do you stop? Mr Gohmert said. That's why it is important to not just look at this emotionally. On Sunday in Sandy Hook, guns were not far from the minds of the mourners who came to pay their respects. Daniel Gregg, director of international programmes at the Connecticut Association of Schools, held flowers as he made his way toward a memorial in the middle of town. Mr Gregg works with many schools in China, bringing exchange students to the area. He said there was already an outpouring of condolences from his colleagues in Asia, but also questions about US society's tolerance of guns. I've already been receiving emails from China, two professors who were actually at Sandy Hook a number of years ago, others who know Connecticut, and some of them who actually know this particular school system. And quite frankly, just like everybody else, they're very very sad," he said, "We're always going to have people who, for whatever reason, do things. But most countries in the world, particularly Japan, South Korea, China, I have the same conversation with them - why do we have so many guns around?