海角大神

Family members of the Newtown, Conn., shooting victims joined with other gun-control supporters in Washington Thursday to form a human 鈥渞ibbon of remembrance.鈥� For hours, they read the names of nearly 4,800 people who have been killed by gun violence in the six months since the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School 鈥� including the 20 children and six adults slain there that day.

In a tribute to victims鈥� families, key Democratic lawmakers vowed at a noon press conference that they would continue pushing for a vote on universal background checks in the Senate 鈥� which failed for lack of five votes in April 鈥� and in the House, which has not voted on any gun-control legislation since the Newtown tragedy.

鈥淚 am here today to remind Congress of what happened to my family,鈥� said Jillian Soto, the younger sister of Sandy Hook teacher Victoria Soto, who was killed while confronting the gunman. 鈥淛ust last week, more people were murdered in Santa Monica,鈥� she said of the California shooting during the press conference. 鈥淐ongress cannot continue to allow guns to be in the hands of these madmen.... We will continue to fight until Congress stands up and does something to make us safer from gun violence.鈥�

Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D) of California thanked the family members for turning their grief into action and vowed they would not give up the push for universal background checks. 鈥淵ou are the key to our getting something done,鈥� Senator Reid said, 鈥渂ecause the American people identify with what happened at that little elementary school in Connecticut.鈥�

The families鈥� activism 鈥� combined with a continued drumbeat from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the coalition he supports, Mayors Against Illegal Guns 鈥� is once again drawing attention to the gun-control debate. But it鈥檚 unclear whether the momentum will be sustained enough to overcome many lawmakers鈥� opposition to more federal restrictions on guns.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to keep this issue on the agenda,鈥� says Harry Wilson, a political science professor at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., and author of 鈥淕uns, Gun Control, and Elections: The Politics and Policy of Firearms.鈥� 鈥淣o one ever wants to say, 鈥榃e鈥檝e given up,鈥� ... and to a limited extent, I would take [legislators] at their word on that,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檝e lost that issue and there are six other issues you want to pursue, you can鈥檛 spend all your time on one single issue.鈥�

Gun-control activists contend the momentum for reform has strengthened rather than faded.

Those affected by gun violence have always kept at it, but now, more broadly, 鈥淎mericans have woken up to the fact that we don鈥檛 have the gun laws on the books that we need,鈥� says Brian Malte, senior national policy director at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington. After the failed vote in the Senate, 鈥渢he anger and outrage ... has only made people more intense,鈥� he says, and he has heard from lawmakers that the calls and e-mails from the gun-control side are pouring in at an unprecedented level.

Thursday鈥檚 events were organized by the Newtown Action Alliance, a grass-roots group working for more gun-control laws. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Newtown family members also met with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress. They delivered a letter signed by more than 80 organizations, emphasizing that about 90 percent of Americans support universal background checks for gun purchases. They were also expected to meet with President Obama Thursday.

By some measures, public opinion is in the same place it was before the Newtown shootings. Americans are fairly evenly split on whether it is more important to control gun ownership (50 percent) or to protect the right to own guns (48 percent), according to a May survey by the Pew Research Center. (In July 2012, the split was 47-46.)

Sen. Christopher Murphy (D) of Connecticut was among several lawmakers Thursday who mentioned behind-the-scenes conversations that gave gun-control supporters hope about the possibility of garnering enough votes for another try on background checks in the Senate. He also chided colleagues who had not agreed to meet with Newtown victims鈥� families, urging them to 鈥渉ave the guts鈥� to do so and predicting that if they did, 鈥渟omething will be unlocked in your heart that will get you to yes.鈥�

Representative Pelosi said that if some brave senators can step forward to pass the bill, there is parallel legislation in the House that could then be taken up, so it wouldn鈥檛 be for naught.

Failing that, gun-control activists are trying to be a counterweight to the National Rifle Association, telling lawmakers that there will be a price to pay when it comes time for reelection.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is sponsoring a 25-state bus tour to pressure lawmakers. The tour starts Friday, the six-month anniversary of the Newtown shootings.

Yet the political calculus could be complicated by Mayor Bloomberg鈥檚 recent targeting of four Democrats who sided with most Republicans in the Senate in voting down the background-checks bill. In a recent letter, he asked donors not to support Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

鈥淏loomberg is the wild card in gun control,鈥� Professor Wilson says.

When asked about Bloomberg at the Thursday press conference, Reid said he had spoken to the mayor and reminded him that 鈥渢o have Republicans control the Senate is a sure sign we will never get anything done.鈥� But he characterized Bloomberg as a 鈥渇ree spirit鈥� with the financial means to pursue his passion for gun control as he sees fit.

Reid also said that he would not accept a 鈥渨atered down鈥� version of the bill and that he would not call for a vote unless he knew he had the votes to win.