Markey: A 'showdown' looms on gun control

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2015/10/markey_a_showdown_looms_on_gun_control



TIME FOR CHANGE: U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey said momentum is building for meaningful legislation on gun control.

Markey: A 'showdown' looms on gun control
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Matt Stout

U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey said that a “historic showdown” is looming in Washington on gun control, predicting it will become part of the presidential race following the horrific mass shooting in Oregon — even as a member of his own delegation doubted it will lead to change.

“These events are now creating an atmosphere where gun control (and) background checks will be a voting issue in the 2016 elections in our country,” Markey said yesterday. “We’re about to have a historic showdown.”

The murder of nine people in a burst of gunfire at a Roseburg, Ore., community college Thursday has ­reignited the debate about gun control, frustrating President Obama while alarming opponents of any new legislation.

Obama vowed yesterday to “politicize” the issue because inaction is itself a political decision.