Joe Biden at City Hall. (photo: nyc.gov)

As the U.S. Congress debates gun control legislation, two of the countries' leading advocates on the issue--Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Michael Bloomberg--held a City Hall press conference today to pressure federal lawmakers to have enough "courage" to vote in favor of the bill when it hits the floor. Standing behind victims' family members from last year's massacre at a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school, Mr. Biden and Mr. Bloomberg argued the measures being proposed are neither controversial or unconstitutional.

"There's not one single thing being proposed--not one, not one , not one, not one--that infringes on anyone's Second Amendment constitutional right. Not one," Mr. Biden said. "Three months ago, a deranged man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School with a weapon of war. That's what he walked in with--a weapon of war. That weapon of war has no place on American streets and taking it off American streets has no impact on one's constitutional right to own a weapon."

"There’s no doubt that requiring background checks for all gun sales saves lives and there’s no doubt that the American people support it," Mr. Bloomberg said. " The only question is whether Congress will have the courage to do the same thing or if they will allow more innocent people, including innocent children, to be gunned down. It has been 97 days since Newtown, in that time, we estimate that more than 3,000 Americans have been murdered with guns. Almost none of the victims generated national headlines, but each murder was a tragedy for the victim’s family and for the community. If Congress does nothing, another 12,000 people will be murdered with guns this year alone. We just cannot allow that to happen.”

The pair also praised each other's advocacy on the gun control issue.

"There's been no better person to be leading this effort in Washington than Vice President Biden," Mr. Bloomberg said, labeling Mr. Biden "a stand-up guy."

For his part, Mr. Biden extolled Mr. Bloomberg's organized lobbying efforts, declaring, "There has been no support that has been more consequential than the support coming from Mayor Bloomberg. It has been immense. It is organized, it is committed and it is consequential."

(Photo: C-Span.org)

Earlier this morning, Democratic lawmakers gathered in Washington D.C. to unveil the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, which is legislation that would ban "military-style" assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. The press conference announcing the bill featured New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, the legislation's House sponsor, as its first speaker. Needless to say, Ms. McCarthy--whose husband was killed in a 1993 shooting spree on the Long Island Rail Road--made it clear it wasn't going to be a speech that stuck to the script.

"This battle has been a very lonely battle for many, many years," Ms. McCarthy began. "You know, a lot of words can be said. I've got a great speech here and my staff worked on it a long time and I'm probably going to do what they always tell me not to do. That means just talk from my heart."

Ms. McCarthy expressed particular frustration that gun control legislation has stalled in Congress but argued that the recent massacre at a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school would be the catalyst for change.

"For the last several years, the massacres have been going on more and more. Going through it, I kept saying, 'What's the matter with all of us?'" she asked. "How many people have to be killed before we do something? I thought for sure after Virginia Tech that we would get something done. Aurora [too]. But something happened in Newtown. The people of America said, 'How could this happen? How could this happen to our children?'"

Gun rights advocates typically argue that restrictions on firearms won't lower crime since criminals are inherently willing to buy weapons illegally, but Ms. McCarthy countered by arguing the individuals involved in shooting sprees are not capable of buying the weapons on the black market.

"We have these machines. We have the large magazines that can take down 20 children in seconds," she said. "Some people will say this bill won't work. Let me tell you why it will work. Because if you don't have these guns and the large magazines on the shelves, those who have done these horrific killings wouldn't be able to go into a gun store and just buy them. They don't have the background to go and look where the black market is and buy these magazines and guns. They go to the simplest place. If they aren't in the stores, they can't be bought. Think of the lives that can be saved. "

Adding that there's a need for additional legislation to deal with drugs and mental health, Ms. McCarthy said, "This is only the beginning. We're going to be working on a holistic approach."

Ms. McCarthy also addressed the death of her husband and what the meant for her emotionally, especially in the wake of the Newtown shooting.

"There's a lot of them saying that that's not going to do anything. I'm saying to you that we can save lives," she said. "Think about this, since Newtown, just about 1,000 people have died from guns. 1,000 people. Those children, their dreams--the dreams of even those who have died from other violence--never to be fulfilled. The day that that incident happened, I was actually giving an interview. And it was just a reporter following up on how do I get through the holidays. And she said to me, 'Oh my god, do you have the TV on?' And that was the beginning of my nightmare again....It has to stop. It has to stop. We can do it. We can make a difference."

(Photo: Getty)

New York Post columnist Fred Dicker, who's normally a big fan of Andrew Cuomo, has blasted the governor in recent days for rushing through a gun control bill at the beginning of Albany's 2013 legislative session. This morning, the two of them faced off in a fiery back-and-forth on Mr. Dicker's radio show, where the host argued it was an unusually "divisive" piece of legislation.

"This bill takes peoples' rights away. Now, it may be a minority, but it is a substantial minority. And a great many people are upset about that, as you know. And if you think about it, I don't know if you can recall a time in your lifetime, where a law was passed that took away your rights," Mr. Dicker contended. "For many of these gun-owning people, as you know, this is about our Constitution, our founding fathers, many of them are people of great principle. They love our country and they see themselves as under attack. Are you aware of that kind of deep-seated feel and what do you say to people who have that kind of sentiment?"

Mr. Cuomo, of course, was unswayed by Mr. Dicker's argument, and pointed to support in the polls to say the bill wasn't really "divisive" at all.

"Yeah. I think--look, Fred, on this one. I know you've been talking about it for a couple days," Mr. Cuomo began. "I'm aware of your opinion on it. I was aware of your opinion before this issue, and I respect it. On this we're going to agree, I think, to disagree. First, when you say 'divisive.'...I think you're trying to say 'passion' more than 'divisive.' Because it's not that divisive....If the question is divisiveness, this is overwhelmingly popular. That's what [Siena pollster] Steve Greenberg found. That's what everyone finds. It's 73 percent of the people."

"But the oppression of the minority is what restraint of government is all about!" Mr. Dicker interupted. "I mean, if you always governed by minority rule, you'd have people with their heads chopped off!"

Mr. Cuomo proceeded to point out that he views the Second Amendment as a right that had been "limited" by government in the past. He pointed to restrictions preventing convicted felons from owning guns as an example of this.

"The Second Amendment is a right and government has no business interfering with that right, that's the argument. What I would say is, 'Look, I understand that.' But government has--quote, unquote--has 'limited' that application. We say, if you're a felon, you can't have a gun! Well, where does it say that in the Constitution? Where does it say that?"

Mr. Dicker resisted this frame and said Mr. Cuomo was using a logical fallacy by pretending his critics believe something so absolute.

"I think you're setting up the straw man," Mr. Dicker countered. "These people aren't arguing absolute rights."

"So it's reasonable regulation," the state's executive pushed back. "Then we get to, yes, you have the right to have a handgun, but you have to register it. And the government has to approve your permit. Reasonable regulation."

And so the two continued, debating the specific advantages of, for example, the merits of limiting magazine capacity to 7 bullets instead of the current maximum of 10. Mr. Cuomo then accused his critics of making their own logical mistake, the slippery slope fallacy, in the belief that government, empowered by recent gun control measures, will seek to ban all guns.

"Their fear is greater than [bullets]. Their fear is worse than that, as I always used to say. They want to say, now camel's nose under the tent on the number of bullets, camel's nose under the tent on, 'You eventually want to eliminate guns in this society!'" Mr. Cuomo exclaimed, with a chuckle. "You made me register a handgun, now you're banning an assault weapon. Next, you're going to come with a semiautomatic shotgun, which is my hunting gun."

Invoking Godwin's law, Mr. Dicker took exception to Mr. Cuomo's slight laughter.

"Look, it's happened in history," Mr. Dicker said. "I wouldn't make so much light of it. I don't see it happening now, I'm not one of the people thinking we're on the verge of Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but that could happen. You don't know what the future is going to bring"

"I'm not making light of it," the governor replied. "I'm saying it's a passionate argument."

After devoting much of their discussion to gun policy, the two used what was left of the interview's remaining time on topics like the budget and Mr. Cuomo's highly anticipated "Adirondack Challenge."

(Photo: Getty)

Over the weekend, Republicans in the New York State Senate rolled out a plan to address gun laws, which received criticism from Democrats due to its focus on increasing penalties for illegal guns rather than restricting access to assault weapons. A spokesman for Governor Andrew Cuomo quickly shot it down, however, and Mr. Cuomo reiterated his position that the Republicans' policy proposals are a non-starter at a press conference this morning.

"I don't think their plan goes far enough," Mr. Cuomo said. "I think it misses the mark, pardon the pun, to put out a plan that doesn't ban an assault weapon with what we've seen."

Mr. Cuomo went on to describe what he termed the "process" for pushing through a bill on a topic as "heated" as new gun control measures, which he described as lawmakers looking at which way  the political winds are blowing and acting accordingly.

"These situations are always a process where a legislative body is sort of weighing the political pros and cons. They have to do it with a number of people," he explained. "'Gun control,' call it what you want, is a highly politically contentious situation. It is polarizing on the political spectrum and we have the full political spectrum. So I think they're going to have to make political decisions. Do they want to do something or not? I think this body--most legislative bodies--they want to get a sense for the atmosphere and the environment. They want to get a sense for how heated the opposition is, how heated the support is, and then they'll make a decision. So I think there's a process."

Pressed on whether he'd take the gun control issue to the public if the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to pass policies to his liking, Mr. Cuomo, in a rather roundabout manner, said that is indeed his plan.

"We'll do what I do every legislative session on every issue," he said. "We take the priorities in the State of the State [speech] and then we communicate with the people of the state. I try and build political support. I believe if you have political support among the people, then the politicians follow. I think if you look at the track record we've had, that's the way it worked. You introduce a proposal, everybody--legislative types--wait to see what happens. Does the balloon go up? Does the balloon go down? I'm blowing as  hard as I can to make the balloon go up."

Though he disagrees with the Republican gun control plan, Mr. Cuomo said he's glad about the overall performance of the State Legislature at the moment.

"I'm happy with everyone," he said. "I'm happy with the Senate Republicans. I'm happy with the Assembly. I'm just happy. Constant state of happy."