A little more civilized tomorrow and a bit more constructive perhaps on both sides. Thats tomorrow at 9 00 eastern. Thats all for us tonight. A. C. 360 starts now. On a big day in a big week in the debate over gun control we begin with a very lowprofile gun law already on the books, a law you that probably dont even know about thats hidden in a very surprising place. We think you need to know about it because critics say this law damages our ability to truly know, using serious science, the impact that guns have on Public Health and Public Safety, impeding research on gun safety, preventing doctors even from talking to patients about the potential health risks that come with gun ownership. Now, advocates of the law say it protects the rights of gun owners. You can decide for yourself. As we reported last week, the National Rifle association managed to push this stealth ledge slaix into president obamas Health Care Reform bill. The question is how did they do it and why and why whatever you think of the law one of the president s top allies, a democrat, actually helped the nra get it passed . No surprise that theres a big dose of politics involved here. Jim acosta tonight is keeping them honest. Reporter when president obama signed national Health Care Reform into law, few in washington knew that buried in the legislations more than 900 pages was a gift to the nations powerful gun lobby. But here it is. A provision entitled protection of Second Amendment rights. It states, the government and Health Insurers cannot collect any information relating to the lawful ownership or possession of a firearm or ammunition. The provision was such a secret, the Washington Post reports that some people in the white house didnt even know it existed, despite being in the president s signature legislation. Health care advocate john alker did notice it and has a hunch where it came from. How do you think this got in there . I dont know. Im assuming the nra put it in at the last minute. Reporter so who put it in there . It might surprise you to learn it was this man, the most powerful democrat in congress, Senate Majority leader harry reid. But why . A democratic source close to the passage of the Health Care Law tells cnn, this is what was viewed as a relatively benign way to make sure the National Rifle association didnt get involved with this. Reid has been a top advocate of gun rights for years. In fact, just days after the Health Care Law was signed, reid invited wayne la pierre, a top official at the nra, to the opening of this nevada weapons range. People who criticize this probably would criticize baseball. Reporter la pierres visit was a big boost for reid, who was courting gun owners in his very proSecond Amendment state of nevada, in a tough battle for reelection. I also want to thank you, senator, for your support every day at the federal level for the Second Amendment, and for the rights of american gun owners. Reporter both reid and the nra declined to talk to cnn on camera. But democratic sources on capitol hill say the nra was not the only threat to the president S Health Care bill. Lawmakers were also worried about conspiracy theories circulating among gun enthusiasts that falsely accused the Obama Administration of plotting to use the Health Care Law to go after gun owners. One group, the gun owners of america, insists it could still happen. It says that all of our medical records are available to be pawed through by bureaucrats somewhere in washington, looking for a reason to disenfranchise gun owners. Reporter as for reid, his staff told us today the Senate Majority leaders views on gun control are changing. Hes in a different place than he was in 2010, says an adviser. Consider how reid answered the question after the july Movie Theater massacre in colorado. With the schedule that we have, were not going to get into a debate on gun control. Reporter and how he responded after the killings in newtown. We need to accept the reality that were not doing enough to protect our citizens. Jim acosta joins us now along with 360 m. D. Sanjay gupta. Jim, a majority of both houses of congress supported obama care. The Administration Spent years working to make it a reality. How is it possible that this was a surprise to the people who introduced the bill and the people who voted for it . Well, anderson, i have to tell you, i talked to a number of congressional sources, sources over at the white house, advocacy groups. And i would have to say, some of them did know about this before it was passed but they say it came very late in the game. And heres the situation with the passage of the Health Care Law. Essentially, any part of this bill, had it been pulled out in the last stages of the legislative process, could have brought the whole thing down. So whether it was this gun control part, if that had been pulled out, ive been told by a couple of democratic sources, you know, some moderate Democratic Senators could have walked away from this bill at the last second. So they were just very, very afraid that any provision, had it been yanked out at the last second, could have brought the whole thing down. And sanjay, the provisions that were slipped in, what will they impact medically speaking . I read through this pretty carefully. Its a pretty small provision. Just five lines, really. It does not specifically forbid as part of the Affordable Care act from doctors, forbid them from asking their patients about guns. What it sort of prohibits is them from collecting that information, documenting it, and using it for the purposes of research. Thats the real concern here. Or for the purposes of wellness programs. So you know, this whole idea that you try to do things within your own home, within your own life to be safer, collecting this information about guns could not be part of this. The nra says, look, that information could be used to discriminate against people in terms of their insurance premiums. People who want to have these conversations say this is what you need to do to become to create more safety around this. And jim, has harry reid really shifted on gun control, or is this just a convenient position for him right now . Well, were going to have to find out, anderson. Youll recall after the Aurora Shooting he came out and talked to reporters and said there just wasnt any time in the legislative calendar to deal with gun control. His office now says he has changed on that, he has changed on the issue of gun control. He made some pretty heartfelt comments on the floor of the senate after the newtown tragedy. So it just now remains to be seen. Keep in mind, anderson, there is a lot on the plate for congress right now. They have not only those spending cuts that were delayed as part of the fiscal cliff. They have the debt ceiling to deal with. And now these nominations of chuck hagel and john brennan over to the Defense Department and cia. So now it is a question of how much time they have, but now i think a lot of people will be watching, does harry reid make that time . Some states are taking this one step further, proposing state laws that would actually make it criminal for a doctor like yourself to ask a patient. You could actually lose your medical license for asking, is that correct . Yeah, and ill tell you, it was even more than that in the original version of the bill down in florida, for example. And there are seven other states like this. The original version was that you could impose jail time for simply asking. So a physician asking a patient about guns could land them in jail, according to the original version. There was a scaled back version that was subsequently put forward, that you could still lose your medical license, you could get financial penalties. That was subsequently overturned by a federal judge, but its being appealed. So yes, it could be even a step further in some of these states, even a step further than whats in the Affordable Care act. Why would, sanjay what would an example be of why a doctor would ask a patient about owning a gun . I think the big thing here is theyre not that its antiguns, or trying to get rid of guns. Theyre trying to figure out what the safety protocol should be. Ill give you an example, anderson. I went to the doctor a couple months ago. I go every year. They ask me about all sorts of things, knowing that i have small children in the house, smoke detectors, Carbon Monoxide detectors, swimming pools, and they did ask me about guns as well. So its a question of thinking about this from a Public Health perspective. Let me just share some numbers with you, anderson. I know weve talked about this before. But if you look over a twoyear period, for example, what you come to find is that for children between the ages of 5 to 14 it is guns that are the third leading cause of death. Some 5,000 deaths over that time period, 5,740 deaths, you can see there. And look at the number of injuries as well. Close to 35,000, 34,387. So this is Vantage Point from which doctors and Health Care Professionals are speaking. And i mean, whats interesting, jim, on the legal the policy side, this is not the first time, jim, that weve seen the nra have friendly positions provisions slipped into health care bills. Thats right. This has happened before. And thats why its interesting to see harry reid having been part of this because the Natural Inclination of a lot of people is to think that, well, this is really just the republicans whove been cozying up to the nra for years. I have to tell you, anderson, i interviewed howard dean way back in 2004 when he was running for president and at that time he was talking about how he was a progun rights democrat, a different kind of democrat. And this has really changed sxef ofld over time for the democratic party. They are not the party of the assault weapons ban of the clinton administration. They have become very, very close to the National Rifle association. And now i think theyre having some soul searching over that. Interesting. Sanjay, jim, thanks very much. You bet. Let us know what you think about this law, if you knew about it, follow me on twitter andersoncooper. Im tweeting about it tonight. 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Today a former top military commander, retired general stanley mcchrystal, said that militarystyle weapons dont belong in civilian hands. The accused aurora, colorado killer who allegedly used such a weapon to kill 12 people, he was in court today. And for a few minutes today in tucson, arizona, the only noise to be heard was the sound of [ bell ] a bell rang out, marking two years to the minute since the killings there. Today the bestknown survivor, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, took steps that she believes will prevent new bloodshed, or she hopes certainly. She and her husband mark kelly launching a Political Action committee, setting up a website designed they say to encourage lawmakers to stop gun violence while protecting responsible gun ownership. They spoke tonight on abc world news about the pressing need to act. How did we get to the point where 85 of the children in the world that are killed with guns are killed in the United States . That is a sobering statistic. 85 . So thats what changed for you . Yes. You told me before, when i said are you angry, you said no. Its life. Do you still feel that way . No. Do you get angry sometimes . Yes, yes, yes. Its complicated. When it can happen to children in a classroom, its time to say enough. Gabby giffords was obviously one of the fortunate ones. She survived. Six others died. Including a 9yearold girl named Christina Taylor green, who had come to hear the congresswoman speak. Christina was a budding politician herself. Shed just been elected to the student council. Well, two years later in the wake of the newtown connecticut killings her mom roxana is lending her voice to a campaign called demand a plan toned gun violence. 20 heartbroken families lost a child in the Sandy Hook School shooting. I know how much it hurts. My 9yearold daughter was murdered in the tucson shooting. I have one question for our political leaders. When will you find the courage to staund to the gun lobby . Thats not all roxanna green has to say. I spoke to her earlier tonight. Roxanna, you appear in a new ad from mayors against illegal guns, in which you say, i have one question for political leaders, when will you find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby . Do you believe that the time has come, that political leaders are ready to stand up . Absolutely. I am very confident that our leaders in washington are going to do something. They already are. President obama and Vice President biden are already have already formed a committee, and im very confident they will come up with a solution right away. And to be clear, you and your husband both own guns. Your husbands a hunter. So youre not against gun ownership, correct . Oh, absolutely not. We believe strongly in the Second Amendment. We are both gun owners. My husband and his whole family hunt. We just want to make sure that illegal guns dont get in the hands of dangerous people. So in a perfect world, what would a plan be that you would support . Well, i would support a plan where Drug Trafficking is a federal crime, where assault militarystyle weapons and the bigcapacity magazines are banned like they were in 1994. Also, i think every gun thats purchased in this country should be required to have a background check. I think thats the most important one. A criminal background check . Yes. How much of this is informed by your own loss . You wrote a book called as good as she imagined, and you honored your daughter. You started a foundation in her name. Is your push for change in gun laws another way to keep your daughters legacy alive . Absolutely. I want to make sure that Christina Taylor didnt die in vain, the other five people in tucson didnt die in vain. The thousands and thousands of people, over 12,000 people every year in the United States, i want to make sure none of the innocent people die in vain. And i will continue with my work with mayors against illegal weapons and demandaplan. Org for as long as it takes. If it takes a lifetime, so be it. I really dont think its going to take that much longer because i think everyone in this country has been really saddened and hurt and touched by what happened in newtown, and i think people are ready to act right now. And to those who say, you know, look, this is gun ownership is enshrined in the constitution, the Second Amendment, and no limitations on guns are acceptable or current gun laws just need to be enforced more . I think its a little bit ridiculous. I dont know a lot of people that drive around in a tank or have a tank at their house. Theres no reason why they need to have militarystyle assault weapons that were basically designed to kill people quickly, massive amounts of people quickly. I dont think people need to own those. I dont believe they belong in their homes or basements, thats just my personal opinion. Roxanna, i appreciate you being on. Thank you. Thank you very much. Lets talk about the raw politics of actually getting something done. Is it possible . The fact that no one can agree o