King: Bill can protect officials from guns

Following the Tucson rampage, House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King sent a message Tuesday to gun-rights advocates: Keep weapons far away at public gatherings attended by members of Congress and other top federal officials.

The Seaford Republican said he'll introduce a bill that won't try to ban guns at rallies, meetings and town halls, but will require the gun-toting public to keep their distance from public officials - 1,000 feet away, to be exact.

"Yes, it's intended to protect federal officials," King said. "But just as important, it's to protect citizens and also to give them more a sense of security that if they do go to an event . . . there's less chance of there being a weapon there."

King announced the legislation at a New York City Hall gun-control rally hosted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who backs King's bill, but also emphasized the need to improve ways to beef up background checks of gun buyers.

Bloomberg pointed to the system's failure to prevent the sale of a semiautomatic Glock 19 handgun to Jared Loughner, charged in the shootings Saturday at the curbside open house of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

"The law says that drug abusers can't buy guns, but though Jared Loughner was rejected by the military for drug use and arrested on drug charges, he was able to pass a background check and buy a gun," Bloomberg said.

King said his bill is not just in response to the Tucson shootings, but also to appearances of guns at public events, highlighted by "people showing up with automatic weapons on the periphery of crowds" at a Phoenix visit by President Barack Obama last year. On Monday, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips told MSNBC he continues to support people who bring guns to political rallies and meetings "because they have a right to."

The bill would make it illegal to knowingly carry a gun within 1,000 feet of the president, vice president, members of Congress or federal judges.

King conceded a high-powered rifle and handguns could shoot more than 1,000 feet, but said police he consulted with told him the distance was far enough to allow officers to spot and investigate anyone who might be carrying a weapon.

The bill faces an uphill climb in a House dominated by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who support gun rights, King said.

Asked about the bill, the National Rifle Association said in a statement Tuesday: "At this time anything other than prayers for the victims and their families would be inappropriate."

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said his group would support King's bill. "It's a sad commentary that our laws are so weak we have to consider these things," he said. "My real hope is that Congress looks at a lot more than this." The Brady Center and other gun-control groups back a bill offered by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) to ban high-capacity gun clips that hold up to 30 bullets or more. From 1994 to 2004, the federal automatic weapons ban limited clips to 10 bullets.