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that is what it is going to take. you know, in the letter that julie wrote me, she said, i know that laws have to be passed by congress. but i beg you to try very hard. julie, i will try very hard. >> the witnesses to history today as the president made his announcement included children, cabinet members, and a sadly large group of people who are united by tragedy. the living victims of gun violence, some who have lost family members. others who have been shot themselves and survived. joining me now, two people who were in the room with the president today, congresswoman mccarthy of new york, her husband was killed and her son injured in the massacre on long island railroad. and steven barton who was shot in the aurora massacre in july.
like crazy, we'll bring everybody together. it is going to be a tough job and we need the american people behind us. >> steven barton, one of the lies that the nra and others continue to try to assert is that nothing the president proposed today would have changed what happened at sandy hook. we talk about the tragedy at sandy hook. there were 26 tragedies in the school that day. 26 tragedies, and that is because he got to use the kind of weapon and the kind of ammunition clip that president obama and carolyn mccarthy are trying to make illegal. they're trying to make those unavailable to the kinds of people who go in the schools like that. and his mother bought this stuff legally. she clearly was not the law breaking type. she would not have tried to obtain weapons legally. if she had not been able to obtain the weapons legally, they would not have been in the hands of the killer that day. and we would not have had the tragedies that day.
julie, i will try very hard. >> the witnesses to history today as the president made his announcement included children, cabinet members, and a sadly large group of people who are united by tragedy. the living victims of gun violence, some who have lost family members. others who have been shot themselves and survived. joining me now, two people who were in the room with the president today, congresswoman mccarthy of new york, her husband was killed and her son injured in the massacre on long island railroad. and steven barton who was shot in the aurora massacre in july. he is also from connecticut and actually used to live about ten minutes from sandy hook elementary school. thank you both for joining me tonight. congresswoman mccarthy, i have to ask you since your career in politics began with this cause, what was it like for you to be at the only, the only
but i have to say the president has promised that he is going to use his office to get out in the country and really talk this up. and get the american people on our side. >> steven, you were in a room with victims of gun violence today, yourself a victim. you still have, what is it eight shotgun pellets in your body from what happened in colorado? did you have a chance to speak to some of the families of the victims of the sandy hook tragedy? >> i did get a chance to speak with -- speak with several families. and you know, the heartbreak that they have endured and are enduring now, is really the heart of the debate. the lives of the children of this country, so many of them who are killed by gun violence every single day. so you know, it has only been a month since 20 young children were brutally murdered in cou y
out these notices. and what they did as far as an ad, going after president obama's children, you know that has always been off the plate. you don't go after the president's children. and i was very insulted by that particular ad. but i'm telling you, we'll work like crazy, we'll bring everybody together. it is going to be a tough job and we need the american people behind us. >> steven barton, one of the lies that the nra and others continue to try to assert is that nothing the president proposed today would have changed what happened at sandy hook. we talk about the tragedy at sandy hook. there were 26 tragedies in the school that day. 26 tragedies, and that is because he got to use the kind of weapon and the kind of ammunition clip that president obama and carolyn mccarthy are trying to make illegal. they're trying to make those unavailable to the kinds of people who go in the schools like that. and his mother bought this stuff
presidential announcement in history of gun control initiatives being initiated and pushed by the president of the united states. >> well, i have to tell you there were times where i was about ready to break down and cry. to be in the audience with so many of the victims and to see so many of the different groups that i have worked with for years, and some new ones and to hear the president take a very, very strong stance. i'm very proud of president obama and certainly vice president joe biden who has done so much work on bringing everybody together. i really -- you have worked on the hill. you know what it is like here. it is going to be a tough job but i have to say the president has promised that he is going to use his office to get out in the country and really talk this up. and get the american people on our side. >> steven, you were in a room with victims of gun violence today, yourself a victim.
barton who's a survivor of the aurora, colorado, movie theater shooting. now working with mayors against illegal guns. and in washington, democratic strategist julian epstein. and msnbc political analyst professor michael eric dyson. welcome to you all. steven, i have to start with you as someone himself was wounded. you showed me the injuries below your collar. and you heard yesterday in the preliminary hearings in aurora of a 911 call which lasted 27 seconds and featured 33 bullets being fired. i suppose you must be grateful that walmart changed its mind and decided to attend the white house. >> oh, of course. and, you know, that 911 call, what that shows really is the lethality of the weapons we're dealing with here. and pressuring organizations like walmart, like the nra, even congress is going to be crucial to this debate and to getting
god has called them all home. >> that was president obama concluding his reading of the names of the 20 children murdered here in newtown, connecticut. as the community grieves for the loss, many victims who survived friday's carnage now have to learn to live with what they've been through and what they've seen. steven barton is a survivor of another mass shooting and an advocate for ending gun violence. steven lives just a few miles away from newtown, connecticut. steven was one of the survivors of the movie theater shooting in aurora, colorado, in july when 12 people were killed. colin goddard is another mass shooting survivor. colin survived the 2007 shooting rampage on the campus of virginia tech that left 32 people dead. joining me now, these two survivors, steven barton and colin goddard. strooechb, i'm struck by this
12 people were killed. colin goddard is another mass shooting survivor. colin survived the 2007 shooting rampage on the campus of virginia tech that left 32 people dead. joining me now, these two survivors, steven barton and colin goddard. strooechb, i'm struck by this amazing dimension of your story that there you were in that movie theater in colorado, a victim of that shooting, and then very close to where you live here in connecticut this happens. what were you feeling friday when you discovered where this shooting occurred? >> i couldn't believe that gun violence had struck so close to home again. i went from having zero experience with this sort of tragedy to snt north span of five months two different events that were some of the worst mass shootings our country has ever
owners than gun control advocates. he allowed guns on amtrak trains and allowed guns in national parks. he gave lip service to getting this ban back in effect. so you have to wonder now because the tone of the country because of sandy hook whether he will actually do something or not. but this has not been on his agenda his first term. >> that assault weapons ban, there were a lot of loopholes. maybe there won't be as many loopholes. moving along, the sandy hook tragedy has him on a mission to get more guns off the streets, steven barton was visiting aurora, colorado, when he was shot during the movie theater massacre. he happens to live in connecticut just a few miles from newtown and he's hoping the school shooting will bring about change. >> our country is long overdue for a serious discussion about guns, about mental health. >> barton admits that gun reform might not have been enough to prevent the newtown tragedy but says there should be a balance