District Attorney Charles Hynes Calls For National Gun Control Measures In Wake Of Sandy Hook Shootings

Charles J. Hynes wrote a letter to the New York Times calling on President Obama to form a national commission on gun control, insisting that the federal government needs to adopt stricter gun control statutes nationwide – a responsibility currently left largely to individual states.

Hynes, the Kings Country District Attorney, told the Times that, “The commission should be made up of experts from the fields of law enforcement, school safety, mental health, academia and sociology and include a representative from a respected hunting organization.”

Hynes hopes that the commission will represent a non-political group of experts who can then best present a recommended course of action for the U.S. Congress to enact when it comes to crafting sensible gun control laws.

Hynes ran down a list of topics that the commission should focus on including:

The prospect of prohibiting interstate transportation of guns, requiring background criminal and psychiatric checks before gun purchases at gun shows, a ban once again on automatic weapons, and on high-capacity ammunition magazine — all of which could be approved by Congress and not violate the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment.

Hynes closed the letter with a comparison of the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary to that of September 11, in that it has shaken the national conscience and faith.