Bloomberg, King call for better gun control

In the wake of the deadly shootings in Tucson over the weekend, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Rep. Peter King joined together Tuesday to call for fixes to federal gun control laws.

At a City Hall news conference, King (R-Seaford) said he would propose federal legislation prohibiting anyone from having a firearm within 1,000 feet of an elected or appointed federal official. That would include not only the president and vice president, but also members of Congress and the judiciary.

King called the shootings in Tucson, which killed a federal judge and five others and wounded Arizona representative Gabrielle Giffords, "a blow against democracy."

"If we can take a horrible tragedy and take something good out of it, all is not lost," King said in discussing his proposed legislation.

Bloomberg assembled a group of mayors, including Malverne Mayor Patricia McDonald, the wife of disabled former NYPD officer Steven McDonald, to call for federal officials to more rigorously enforce a law that bars drug abusers from buying and having a firearm.

Bloomberg noted that accused gunman Jared Loughner was a drug abuser who nevertheless was able to buy a handgun in November. A military official in Washington said the Army rejected Loughner in 2008 after he had tried to join because he failed a drug test, but no other information about that was disclosed, The Associated Press said.

Bloomberg said the federal gun control system fails regularly "because of inadequate resources, insufficient regulations and inconsistent administration" that omits the records of those who are supposed to be prohibited from having guns.

Steven McDonald, who was disabled after a 1986 shooting while on duty, also joined Bloomberg and spoke briefly about his concerns for his wife and son Conor, who recently became an NYPD officer.

"I fear for their safety," McDonald said.