On 60 Minutes | 04/09/2009 6:00 pm

On '60 Minutes': A Time for Gun Control? (Video)

Have you noticed this rash of recent shooting sprees across the country, from Oakland, CA, to Binghamton, NY? Fifty people have been gunned down in the last month alone. My story this Sunday on "60 Minutes" is about gun control.

I have two interesting points for you about gun control: First, the number of people who are in favor of stricter gun-control laws is diminishing. The other is that, even during this recession, our fellow Americans are out on a gun-buying spree.

I’ll sit down with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was the author and champion of the assault-weapons ban in 1994. Now, she wants to reinstate the ban, but what are the chances it will actually happen? And what about President Obama, who, according to his website, wants to make the ban permanent? The White House doesn’t seem to be interested in bringing it up anytime soon, and Feinstein says she "wouldn’t bring it up now" either. Watch "60 Minutes" this Sunday for the rest of our conversation and more.

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Also on "60 Minutes" this Sunday, a story about new prosthetic arms for amputees and a profile of Steve Wynn, the casino mogul.

"60 Minutes" airs on CBS Sunday at 7 PM ET/PT.

Read more about: 60 Minutes, Barack Obama, CBS, Dianne Feinstein, Gun Control, News, Video, White House

113 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

The laws on the books now are sufficient, the problem is they are not enforced.

By HA BIBI on 04/09/2009 6:11 pm

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I will also add that the fact that this country is lacking in serious security, along with the loss of faith in this Administration to carefully reconsider this breach in protecting this country, leaves many Americans to insist on self protection. Ironicaly, guns sales primarily have also risen to protect ourselves from our own Government.

By HA BIBI on 04/09/2009 6:18 pm

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Gun sales have risen because there is a sickness in our country driven by right-wing, scared and foolish citizens. There is no loss of faith in this administration on the part of reasonable people - there is a group who have no faith and only preach negativity and hate. We are indeed "lacking in serious security" because some people want to be armed and don’t understand that THEY are the enemy! Believe in the power of GOOD and work to unite our country. Read the Bible and contemplate Philipians 4. 8.

By Kris Merrill on 04/12/2009 11:31 pm

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I think all guns should be registered and that handguns should be very difficult to obtain. No private person should own an assault or automatic weapon. And please don’t spout that 2nd amendment stuff…that was written to allow states to form militias…not so bozos on the street could carry Saturday night specials.

By Lee Harrison on 04/09/2009 6:13 pm

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I agree with that Lee, but we do need to enforce the laws that we now have more efficiently.

By Kelly In Texas on 04/09/2009 6:39 pm

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I think that all things that people use irresponsibly that kill others should be registered and made difficult to obtain as well. Guns, cars, video games, televisions, foods, cigarettes, alcohol. Strict controls over everything to keep the population safe from the things that they use to kill is the only way to go. All purchases of these contraband items must be justified. And please don’t spout about "it’s a free country" because no bozo should be allowed to possess anything that might kill anyone. Even if they’ve never done anything wrong and don’t deserve to be penalized for something someone else has done or might possibly do in the future.

By Daniele Cunningham on 04/09/2009 9:16 pm

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Daniele…you are aware you can kill a person w/ your hands, your head, even your feet? So we should all walk around with permits to carry ourselves?

Yes we need more gun laws, especially for gun shows, I am not a fan of those. I own guns and yes I do not think I should be able to own an AK-47, and I dont, but I know people who do…

By C Hardy on 04/10/2009 7:58 am

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It is much easier to kill someone with a car or gun. You cannot test people for the right to have hands. You can give someone handling tests for guns and cars. There is a big difference.

By Amanda C on 04/10/2009 4:12 pm

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Amanda maybe if you would have read Danielle post, she is wanting stricter control over everything that kills…she said everything that kills, I was pointing out that everything that kills is not just a car or a gun or cigarettes or alcohol, like Danielle stated…I know a couple of ex military that are excellent with their hands and could kill someone standing right next to you & you would never hear it or know it happened until they had already walked away…pretty scary to me, we like having them as friends instead of enemies.

By C Hardy on 04/10/2009 8:50 pm

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I wonder if maybe gun sales are up and support for more restrictions is down because people are feeling a lot more uncertain these days, with joblessness and homelessness on the rise. I wouldn’t fear my government so much, but I can understand a fear of a higher crime rate, or of being more vulnerable if I were suddenly homeless.

By Lila Kuh on 04/09/2009 6:27 pm

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Lila,

I would definitely fear our Government! Take into account the chaos taking place in Mexico with those hoodlums a hair line fracture away from positioning themselves completely into this country. And with Nobamas lackadaisical stance of immigration (Sans any reform of a protective stance) towards the citizens of this country. You can also bet on the fact that as more and more people become affected with the continual rise in unemployment and further loss of jobs, that are drifting to other countries due to exorbiant tax hikes/rates for small businesses as well as Corporations, you can bet that people will and are now losing patience with this Administration. You will also, most definitely see a rise in crime, Another substantial reason for the increased sales of firearms for personal protection.

By HA BIBI on 04/09/2009 9:43 pm

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Unless you are a Native American, you are a descendant of an immigrant, Ha Bibi. Immigrants aren’t horrible, awful people who are trying to take away our jobs. The Bush administration already did that by giving coroprations big tax breaks for sending well-paying American jobs overseas. Position your anger to the right people.

By Amanda C on 04/10/2009 4:13 pm

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I don’t see any reason why anyone needs assault weapons, like those used in the VT shooting spree. Also, stricter controls are definitely needed considering so many mentally ill people and people with criminal histories seem to be getting their hands on multiple weapons and ammunition.

And with the lunies on the Right like Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly, Savage and Limbaugh inciting violence with their fear-mongering rhetoric it’s now even more important than ever to have stricter controls.

By DeBúrca obj on 04/09/2009 6:37 pm

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WOWOWOW DeBurca, you almost had me there. And then you had to go and ruin it all with that preposterous last paragraph….what a shame.

By Kelly In Texas on 04/09/2009 6:41 pm

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Try watching this video, if you really want to know…."Is the Right Wing Inciting Violence?":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r1WYCAoHsE

If you don’t want to know….what a shame.

…………………………………………………………..

"Pitchforks and Pistols"

excerpt: "Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with shots of Pepto-Bismol) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They’re apocalyptic. They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias…Some simply lace their unscrupulous screeds with loaded language about the fall of the Republic. We have to “rise up” and “take back our country.” Others have been much more explicit.

For example, Chuck Norris, the preeminent black belt and prospective Red Shirt, wrote earlier this month on the conservative blog WorldNetDaily: “How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution?”

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, imagining herself as some sort of Delacroixian Liberty from the Land of the Lakes, urged her fellow Minnesotans to be “armed and dangerous,”

And between his tears, Glenn Beck, the self-professed “rodeo clown,” keeps warning of an impending insurrection by saying that he believes that we are heading for “depression” and “revolution” and then gaming out that revolution on his show last month. “Think the unthinkable” he said. Indeed.

At the same time, the unrelenting meme being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year. That’s 5.5 million requests altogether over that period; more than the number of people living in Bachmann’s Minnesota.

Coincidence? Maybe. Just posturing? Hopefully. But it all gives me a really bad feeling."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/opinion/04blow.html?_r=3

By DeBúrca obj on 04/09/2009 7:23 pm