There is a new kind of
Brady bill in the works on Capitol Hill, but rather than restricting gun use,
this would restrict the use of gun-related images or speech about a member of
Congress or other federal official.
Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.) says
he is working on a bill to make it a federal crime to use "language or
symbols" that could be interpreted as inciting violence against a member
of Congress, he told CNN in an interview.
Brady's bill comes
following the Arizona shootings and criticisms of Sarah Palin using a
crosshairs symbol to target Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' district back in
March after Giffords, who was seriously wounded in the shooting and the
apparent target, voted for the Obama healthcare bill.
"You can't
put bulls eyes or crosshairs on a United States congressman or a federal
official," Brady told CNN.
Palin said last March that
criticisms of her rhetoric as inciting violence were off base. Those criticisms
included from Giffords, who said at the time such attacks "have
consequences," a phrase echoed by her supporters following the shooting
that left her struggling for life with a bullet wound to the head.
Others were arguing Monday
that both sides of the political spectrum talk tough about their opponents,
including candidate Barack Obama's comment in 2008 that if Philadelphia
Republicans bring a knife to the political fight, "we bring a gun."
Brady's office was not
available for comment on the bill.
