Pathetic. Using the absurd law that requires people to show ID in order to buy cold medicine to justify more ridiculous laws. As a retired police officer I saw everyday how the ADA's refuse to prosecute crimes. We need more effective enforcement/PROSECUTION of existing laws- NOT MORE LAWS.

@Martin Chuzzlewit

Brilliant reply.

"Please ask the district attorney about prosecutorial overreach[...]"

Speaking of which...

Is there going to be a segment on the Aaron Swartz story?

"in a world where the architects of the financial crisis dine regularly at the White House, it’s ridiculous to think Aaron Swartz was a felon."- Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law Proffessor, longtime friend and mentor to Swartz

from "Larry Lessig Remembers Aaron Swartz After Cyberactivist’s Suicide Before Trial; Parents Blame Prosecutor"
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/14/an_incredible_soul_lawrence_lessig_remembers

@Steve from Queens

Way back then, muskets and cannons were all that existed. If you want to reset the definition, perhaps it should include tanks, drones, and smart bombs. Remember, the point of allowing people to arm themselves was to keep governments (foreign or domestic) in check.

The 2nd Amendment was adopted back in back in the 1790s. Why can’t we define “Fire Arm” as the definition for when the bill was written. Every American can own a “Fire Arm” if it’s base on the fire arm that was stated when the bill was adopted. Give everyone the right to own a Musket. Any other Gun is off limits.

Interesting interview Brian but it's time to get some folks from "the other side" on your show. Not hearing and considering their perspectives, which presumably are based in some logic, does your audience no favors.

Just tuned in and I find this whole idea ridiculous. All they are regulating are the law abiding citizens. The guys who are criminals are not likely to need to follow these wonderful new restrictions. Lots of "common sense" things that won't amount to a hill of beans.

Cyrus Vance presides over institutionalized fraud in the Manhattan DA's office. NYPD as a matter of course fraudulently charge innocent people with a joint Disorderly Conduct violation offense/Resisting Arrest misdemeanor crime, and then blackmail them into bargaining down to accepting the violation only. The speedy trial intended by the 90-day limit for the DA to prosecute magically turns into a year or more through a well-known scam -- the D.A. claims not to be ready on the court dates, then when the two month interval until the next court date begins claims to be ready. They teach the young "duckwing" assistant D.A.'s to practice this fraud at the beginning of their careers, so they are corrupted early on. This gun nonsense is nonsense. It is rare that anyone legitimately owning a gun commits a crime with that gun.

Question:Is the only aspect of mental health that will be considered is to make sure that they will not be able to purchase a gun?? Will there be any consideration to providing better health care provisions for the mentally ill?? What will keep these people from getting a butcher knife and hacking a subway car full of people??

obviously the sudafed vs. ammo example only reminds the sudafed people that they ought to hire the ammo people as their lobbyists.

device inside all weapons that disables guns in schools? the technology certainly exists or could be invented in about an hour using gps

The right-wing arguments are all based on the survivalist's paranoid (see "Martin Chuzzlewit" comments) dream of becoming going into the hills and becoming guerrillas who over throw an illegitimate, tyrannical government in Washington doesn't allow for rational argument. The point behind an assault weapon--either long rifles or high powered hand guns--bans is that they have no legitimate purpose. A rural home owner would be much better off with a standard, duck hunters' 12 gauge shotgun loaded with bird shot for their any real home protection needs, and much less likely to kill a neighbor. The DA's point about putting teeth in domestic violence laws will do more to reduce the kinds of murder that happen most frequently.

7 rounds down from 10. All that accomplishes is to force responsible gun owners to buy more stuff.

Martin is right, the problem is not assualt rifles; the problem is conceal and carry laws. if you're not part of a "well regulated Miltia" and you're not "protecting a free State", then carrying a gun in public should be a crime.

@JT FROM LI-

Your comment is so stupid and so densely ignorant of the meaning of these statistics that I will ignore it and save you from embarrassment.

Two questions.

1. Why not require gun owners to insure their all of their weapons against illegal, improper or unauthorized use?

2. Why does no one refer to the first part of the Amendment? Surely defining 'well-regulated militia' is relevant here.

Hi Brian,

Please ask the district attorney about prosecutorial overreach and how the DA office overcharges people in order to box them into pleading guilty instead of defending themselves in a trial. Does he believe these tactics are undermining our justice system? And do prosecutors see how much anger is out there against the police and the DA's office regarding these overcharging tactics?

Thank you

@Martin Chuzzlewit

So we should only ban the weapons AFTER enough people have been killed?

I would like to ask Mr. Vance - how many shootings were there in Manhattan last year? Of those, how many were done by LEGALLY OWNED handguns, and why is it so difficult for law abiding citizens to acquire a permit in the city?

is there a legal definition for "assault rifle," beyond a rifle used in an assault? Rings obnoxiously combative and not helpful in advancing solutions to any problems.

If the goal is to prevent more mass murders, then outlawing automatic weapons is the next move.
If the goal is to prevent more gun murders, then outlawing guns or bullets seems logical.

The politics of this might be complicated -- but the debate certainly doesn't seem to be!

BRIAN and VANCE – SHAME ON YOU for ignoring the true tragedy of urban violence and dead young men-

“On Jan. 8., the New York Times reported that " of 769 homicides in New York State in 2011, only five were committed with rifles of any kind, according to the State Division of Criminal Justice Services."
So in response to a mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., New York lawmakers want to toughen the Empire State's assault weapons ban, even though less than 1% of homicides in the state involve such weapons.” (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

FIVE !!! So, the other 764 0f 769 shooting homicides were NOT these high magazine assault rifles. Minorities (the most frequent victims) in NYC are NOT being murdered by this easy straw target for navel gazing NPR talk shows.

BRIAN - QUIT BEING SLOPPY by continuing this endless picking of low hanging journalistic fruit. (Duh, hey, I know ... let’s do another story on those gun shows and assault rifles.)

(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324235104578241772528831156.html)