Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Newtown parents team up to demand Congress act on new gun laws
By Erin Durkin , Rich Schapiro and Larry McShane
The City Hall meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Bloomberg was planned a month ago, long before they were aware the assault weapons ban would be struck down by politicians. (David Handschuh/New York Daily News)
Refusing to accept defeat, Vice President Biden and Mayor Bloomberg joined with three grieving Newtown families at City Hall Thursday to demand that Washington lawmakers do the right thing on gun control.
Senate leaders in Washington caved to pressure from the gun lobby this week and gave up on a proposed assault weapons ban, but there were no white flags waving at City Hall.
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"Quite honestly, I'm really ashamed to see that Congress doesn't have the guts to stand up and make a change," said Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 tiny victims of the Dec. 14 Connecticut massacre.
Bloomberg and Biden talk strategy in the City Hall bullpen. It was the first time a Vice President appeared at City Hall in more than 30 years. (howiewolf/via Twitter)
In a poignant, emotional speech with Biden and Bloomberg by his side, Heslin, 50, recalled the morning of Dec. 14, 2012, when he saw his 6-year-old son for the last time.
He doesn't wish that moment on any parent and challenged legislative leaders to prevent a recurrence.
"Congress, step up and make a change," he exhorted. "There needs to be a ban on assault weapons, weapons of war, and high-capacity magazines. These weapons have no place, no use, on our streets or in our schools."
Bloomberg greets Chris McDonnell, left, and Neil Heslin, second from left, as Biden hugs family members of the victims from the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. 'We really need national leadership in Washington if we're going to stop this scourge,' Bloomberg said. (James Keivom/New York Daily News)
Biden and Bloomberg started planning the Vice President's historic visit to City Hall — the first by a Vice President in 34 years — a month ago.
The event wasn't timed to respond to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Tuesday announcement that the main gun control bill advancing in the Senate would not include a proposed ban on assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines.
But the setback did not seem to affect the mood — or the resolve — of the anti-gun forces in City Hall's Blue Room.
Newtown parents are pleading with politicians to reconsider their decision on assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle.
"We really need national leadership in Washington if we're going to stop this scourge," Bloomberg said.
"The only question is whether Congress will have the courage to do the right thing — or whether they will allow more innocent people, including innocent children, to be gunned down."
Biden called on Congress to put the nation's safety above partisan politics.
'Think of Newtown' all who say 'we can't ban assault weapons,' said Biden. (David Handschuh/New York Daily News)
"It must be awful, being in public office and concluding that even though you might believe you should take action you can't take action because of the political consequence you face," Biden said.
"What a heckuva way to make a living. What a heckuva way to have to act."
An emotional Heslin was joined by Chris and Lynn McDonnell, whose daughter Grace was killed in the Connecticut carnage, and by the family of murdered teacher Lauren Rousseau.
Chris and Lynn McDonnell, who's 7-year-old daughter, Grace, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lynn said, 'We'd ask everyone who has power to influence legislation ... to ask themselves if they are doing enough to bring about real and meaningful change, and if they are not to ask themselves why.' (David Handschuh/New York Daily News)
"What matters is people, leaders with moral courage," said Chris McDonnell, praising Bloomberg and Biden before his wife called on Congress to follow their example.
"We'd ask everyone who has power to influence legislation in this area, and of course those whose job it is to vote on the legislation, to ask themselves if they are doing enough," said Lynn McDonnell.
"And if they are not, to ask themselves why.
'A weapon of war has no place on American streets,' Biden said, 'and taking it off American streets would have no impact on one's constitutional rights.' (Getty Images)
"Why shouldn't we be doing everything we can to bring about change?"
Reid said Thursday that the gun control bill will head to the Senate floor some time after the politicians return from a two-week recess on April 9.
It will include measures to tighten background checks on gun buyers, to crack down on gun traffickers and to fund school safety improvements, but the assault weapons ban was stripped out because Senate leaders feared the opposition to the ban would doom the rest of the bill.
Neil Heslin (c.), father of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, said, 'I ask everybody to stand up and speak out. Congress, step up and make a change.' (Reuters)
But even without the ban in the legislation, it still faces a tough climb.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is still gathering support for the effort to require better background checks for gun buyers.
Bloomberg has used his vast wealth to press the case for new national gun restrictions, and he encouraged the nation's voters to oust politicians who follow the lure of lobbyists over the will of the people.
'In the end, what Congress has to decide is if it's politically popular, or if what's in their hearts is the right thing,' Bloomberg said. (Getty Images)
"Congress has to get some courage," he said. "It's up to us as Americans and as fellow human beings to sort of give them that courage."
The mayor went to Washington last month to huddle with several top senators and with Biden, the point man on gun control for President Obama.
Bloomberg and Biden discussed holding a joint New York event during the Feb. 27 get-together. Their staffs meet weekly about gun control efforts, and City Hall keeps in touch with several Newtown families.
The March 22, 2013 cover of the Daily News continuing to urge politicians to reconsider their stance on assault weapons. (New York Daily News)
The three Connecticut families invited to City Hall immediately accepted the offer to appear with Bloomberg and Biden, according to an insider.
The White House launched the nation's biggest push for new gun laws in two decades barely one month after the Newtown killings.
Biden emphasized the importance of limiting the number of bullets in an ammunition clip. The Sandy Hook shooter carried a 30-shot magazine and fired about 150 bullets in less than two minutes.
Lynn McDonnell's daughter, Grace, was one of the victims of shooter Adam Lanza's rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. (Family Photo/Family Photo)
"Think about Newtown," Biden said. "Think of how many of these children and teachers might be alive today had (the shooter) had to reload three times as many times as he did."
Biden argued that the proposed restrictions on weapons do not infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
"All those who say we can't ban assault weapons, for all those who say politics is too hard, how can they say that?" asked Biden.
A teary-eyed Neil Heslin, the father of a six-year-old Jesse Lewis who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., holds a picture of himself with his son while testifying on Capitol Hill on back on Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo)
Bloomberg said the decision on gun control, a complicated and contentious subject, comes down to a very simple issue.
"In the end, what Congress has to decide is if it's politically popular, or if what's in their hearts is the right thing," Bloomberg said.
The mayor then referenced the family members standing behind him and the losses they suffered at the hands of a madman with an assault rifle.
Neil Heslin's son, Jesse Lewis, was among the 20 children who were killed during the Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown, Conn. (Scarlett Lewis)
"What we can do as fellow human beings is try to make sure that it doesn't happen again," he said. "We can't bring back their loved ones, but we can certainly do something in their memory."
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With Jonathan Lemire
edurkin@nydailynews.com, rschapiro@nydailynews.com and lmcshane@nydailynews.com
Heard at City Hall
Lynn McDonnell, whose daughter Grace was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School: "We'd ask everyone who has power to influence legislation ... to ask themselves if they are doing enough to bring about real and meaningful change, and if they are not to ask themselves why not."
newtown shooting