0 the highest price paid to so many of these families in that small community there, that something of change will come out of this? >> i think there will be. i did get a sense of resolve, that's a very good word, with the president, with our governor, with other leaders across the state of connecticut. our elected representatives down in washington. the people of newtown are strong. they are a people of great faith, they are a small knit community. they will not retreat from this. in many ways, they will get stronger, and they will want us to make sure not that we use this, but that we learn from it and make ourselves a better society, a safer society. it's an important discussion to have and we will have it. as one who has been fortunate enough to represent newtown for 14 years in the state senate, i'm going to make sure that we have that discussion on many fronts. >> sir, do you think that newtown is ready to be used as a national example of why we need better gun regulation in this host of issues. you know, in addition, i dropped one child off at school today, the others took the bus. we need to be better people. we need to be better parents. those aren't things we can pass by laws, but those are things that we need to do to honor these victims. >> connecticut state senator john mckinney. sir, thank you for your time this morning. i do appreciate it. >> thank you, thomas. want to bring in today's power panel. congressman gerald nadler of new york, jackie hilling and ezra klein, msnbc policy analyst and "washington post" columnist. jackie, i want to start with you. last night was the fourth time we as a country have watched this president have to address a national tragedy like this. i want to remind everybody of the last three times that we have seen the president take to a mic to comfort the country. >> it may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy, but this much we do know. no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts. >> this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should. let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost. >> i hope that over the next several days, next several weeks and next several months, we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence. >> can we recognize the president's words last night that enough is enough, and that something will come out of this, because right now, the country is in need of something stronger, and some resolve as we just point out with the state senator mckinney. >> i think senator mckinney was really saying what's on the mind of all people in our country at this point. i think the president put it very aptly into words last night. can we honestly say we are doing enough in this country to keep all of our children safe, and i think clearly, the answer in the country is no, we're not. if something like this happens in our midst and we're standing on the sidelines, it's imperative on our part to do something about it. >> congressman, i want to remind everybody exactly what the president said last night. the strong words that he used while consoling the country and the people of newtown but basically calling this country to action. take a listen. >> no single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. but that can't be an excuse for inaction. surely we can do better than this. >> surely we can do better than this. sir, seven members of congress from both chambers have now called for action. senator dianne feinstein appearing on "meet the press" saying she wants to introduce assault weapons ban legislation on the first day of the new congress. the phrase "tipping point" has been used a lot in connection with the newtown tragedy. is this really a tipping point? can we expect something better out of our elected leaders like are dead. in china, he had a knife. 22 children were wounded but they're all going to be okay. it is our fault if we continue to let this insanity reign in this country. we know what to do about it. we have death by gun rates 15, 20 times more than any industrialized country. we know why. we have to stop this. >> ezra, there's a new "chicago trib" editorial out today by dick durbin talking about what will it take. what holds us back are political organizations that are well funded and continue to resist reasonable limitations. there is a parallel between the gridlock in washington and the erie silence in congress as the list of horrific gun crimes grows by the day. an obvious reference there to the nra. there were no supported senators of the nra that would go on "meet the press" this weekend. the nra has been oddly mum in this, telling nbc news they want to wait to remark on this until more facts come to light. but as you pointed out in a recent editorial yourself, as we look back on the assault weapons ban between 1994 and 2004, we saw such a decrease in the amount of gun crimes in this country, yet we let that lapse. we got away from it. how easy is it going to be to utilize what is -- the knowledge that's coming out of this tragedy in newtown to revisit that and get something done? >> i would never say doing anything in washington is easy at all. look, we are going to have to do something. i'm not a huge fan actually of the assault weapons ban. this gets to something broader i think that needs to be talked about. we need to do something. we need action. you keep hearing that. we also need to do the right thing. we need things that will actually help the assault weapons ban, i don't think the evidence is very good that it did much to curb gun violence during its tenure. i'm not saying it wasn't a step in the right direction but it was rife with loopholes, shot through with ways to get around it. it grandfathered everything in. one thing that has happened particularly the last ten years, as in particular democrats have begun to believe the nra is all powerful, is that a lot of the thinking on gun control has simply stagnated. there hasn't been a lot of new fresh thinking and not enough integration of new imported research into what we can do. so as we get into this conversation, one hope that i have at least is that we have enough time for it or we make enough time for it or make enough space for it that we figure out how to do a better job on this than we did frankly in the '90s and frankly, such that it actually will have not just an effect on the mass shootings we have been seeing recently but the more than 12,000 gun homicides a year, 8,000 gun suicides a year, about 600 inadvertent gun deaths a year and the 66,000 gun injuries. spree shootings are really not the only problem here, although they are the most epically horrific. >> what ezra brings up, when we use the example of the assault weapons ban, maybe it wasn't the greatest piece of legislation because of the hoopholloopholes but here we are ten years after it lapses, there are bills in congress that could be acted on immediately. among them, the fixed gun checks act of 2011 and the preventing gun violence act on which right now, there are these eight other ones i'm not going to go over but we could see congress act on it. meanwhile, it's coming up on the two year anniversary of your colleague, gabrielle giffords, nearly being assassinated by doing a congress on your corner at a supermarket in arizona. so when one of your own is nearly assassinated, yet congress does nothing, how are we to think as americans that something will get done now using this latest tragedy as the catalyst? >> i don't know that we should think that anything is going to happen now. we have to make it happen. congress is not going to act unless the president and the people push it very strongly. in the past election, i don't think too many political people are aware of this, the nra proved to be pretty much of a paper tiger. most of the candidates they supported, lost. most of the candidates they opposed, won. that has to get out there. we have to put real pressure on our members of congress, many of whom will do whatever is the easiest things in their districts. maybe afraid of primary fights or general election. we have to say enough is enough. the president's got to lead and those of us who can have to speak out, as i am doing now. the fact that one rather mild gun control measure didn't solve the problem is no excuse. we know a lot of things to do. we know the fact that a country like germany has 158 gun deaths a year and we have 9,000 to 10,000 a year. we know what has to be done. i mean, if we could really do what we should do, i would make it a crime to possess, after a period of buy-backs, a crime to possess an assault rifle or high capacity magazine. as it is a crime to possess drugs. that's certainly more harmful than drugs. that's not likely to happen but the least we can do is ban the sale of assault weapons, ban the sale of high ammunition clips, get rid of the gun show loophole under which anyone can buy a gun -- >> on site. >> -- on site at a gun show. ban gun trafficking, that is limit sale of guns to one a month or something so you can't go to virginia, buy 40 weapons and ship it illegally into new york where you have stronger gun control laws. these are things we can do, we know to do, and we know will greatly reduce the number of innocent people killed every year. they won't eliminate it but they will greatly reduce it. i was struck by the fact that everybody is going to investigate adam lanza and so forth. we know what adam lanza was. he had a mental problem. there are people in this country who are going to have mental problems. we don't know how to stop that. we do know how to disarm them. >> congressman, thanks so much. jackie, thanks to you as well. we're out of time. this is just the beginning of a much-needed conversation that's going to continue. later this hour, we will be speaking with the mayor of danbury, connecticut. coming up also a programming note for you. senator dianne feinstein will be on "andrea mitchell reports" today at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. as i said, we are going to have the danbury, connecticut mayor coming up, mark boughton, who knew the principal of sandy hook elementary school. our big question today is does the right to bear arms trump the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? coming up, a chance to speak with republican congresswoman nan heyworth of new york to find out what she thinks. first, a live look at capitol hill. flags flying at half staff to honor victims of friday's school shooting. they will be lowered until tomorrow at sunset. begin. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! 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