Some of the strongest words of condemnation at Jared Loughner’s sentencing for shooting former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Tucson “were directed — deservedly so — at the country's political leaders for their cowardly refusal to debate, let alone deal with, gun violence,” the Washington Post says in an editorial. U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns, who sentenced the 24-year-old defendant to seven consecutive life terms plus 140 years in prison, expressed wonder at allowing the unrestricted sale of high-capacity magazines like the one Loughner used.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says that of the $11.8 million spent by the National Rifle Association to defeat President Obama and $3.4 million across six key Senate races — 88 percent of its federal independent expenditures — all of the gun lobby’s candidates lost. The Post says the “evidence that the association's ability to influence elections may be exaggerated should stiffen the spines of Mr. Obama and congressional leaders to take on this important issue — before another person touched by gun violence has to stand up in court to offer words about the horrors of loss.”