Is Capps upset with Obama?

January 21, 2015

Central Coast Rep. Lois Capps praised President Barack Obama for his State of the Union address Tuesday night, but took an uncharacteristic jab at the commander in chief for passing over the subject of gun control.

Capps credited Obama with growing the economy, creating jobs and lowering gas prices, in a statement released to the media Tuesday night. She, too, stated that healthcare costs are rising at a slower pace under Obama’s leadership than in the past.

However, the Democratic congresswoman said a discussion of reducing gun violence was lacking from the president’s address.

“We are only two years removed from the State of the Union where President Obama took the dais — weeks after the Newtown massacre — and vowed action,” Capps said. “Since then, dozens of people have been killed in mass shootings — including right here on the Central Coast — and thousands have died from senseless gun violence, while no substantial legislative changes have been made.”

Capps’s guest at Tuesday’s State of the Union was Richard Martinez, the father of a UC Santa Barbara student killed in shooting spree last May in Isla Vista. Martinez’s son Christopher was one of four people, including the perpetrator, killed by gunfire in the attack.

In response, Capps introduced the Pause for Safety Act, which would allow judges to order the confiscation of firearms from individuals deemed mentally ill. A similar bill became law in California, but Capps did not succeed in pushing her legislation through Congress.

Earlier Tuesday, Capps reintroduced the bill. She said it is the type of common sense policy that politicians should support.

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