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Gun control debate reignited by Navy Yard shootings

A mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington DC has at least one of your lawmakers calling for a closer look at gun laws.

Congresswoman Corrine Brown, in Jacksonville today for a community meeting with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, says her heart goes out to the families of those affected by today’s shootings. She says she has been making calls all day to find out what’s going on in what is traditionally a “secure environment”.

While she expects she won’t be the only one calling for action after today, she says lawmakers have to stop being so reactionary especially given the number of mass shootings in the past year or so.

“This is something we need to get a grasp of,” Brown says.

She didn’t go in to details about what specifically should be done, however.

“We need to find a way to deal with these guns in our community- there’s just too many,” she says.

But Congressman Ted Yoho says calling for action now is “disingenuous”.

“That’s so new, we don’t even know the fact yet,” he says.

Yoho tells me he wants to know more about who was responsible, why, if this truly is an isolated incident, etc. Furthermore, he says if we jump to conclusions and calls to action before all those answers are in, it could hurt any effort for real change they eventually decide on.

“It does a disservice to policy down the road when we do try to make good policy,” he says.

Rather than “capitalize on a tragedy”, Yoho wants to focus all the energy now on supporting the victims and their families.

WOKV is reaching out to all your representatives to see their stances.

Many of you on Twitter are already criticizing any call to action.  Matt and Joe say gun control is never the answer. Liz and Mike go further to say gun laws need to be changed to loosen gun control- telling me it was the limited capability to carry in the Navy Yard that put people at risk.  Be sure to let us know what you think by weighing in on Facebook and Twitter.

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