Patricia Maisch, the woman who helped stop Tucson, Ariz. shooter Jared Lee Loughner from inflicting more carnage, came away from a town hall in Phoenix Wednesday disappointed with Sen. John McCain’s answers on gun violence.
“I always wish there was a more positive outcome after those events. I’m not a pollyanna,” Maisch told TPM by phone Thursday. “I know things move slowly. Although Sen. McCain gave us some of his time, he didn’t tend to answer our questions about whether he would support a background check for every sale.”
At the town hall, Caren Teves, the mother of a victim of the Aurora, Colo. movie theater massacre, confronted McCain, urging him to support a ban on assault weapons. “I can tell you right now you need some straight talk,” McCain responded. “That assault weapons ban will not pass the Congress of the United States.”
Maisch said McCain’s response to Teves was “unsatisfactory.”
“In my opinion, the comment the Senator made saying Caren needed some ‘straight talk’ was a bit disrespectful in light of (her son) being murdered by a man with a gun less than a year ago,” Maisch said.
Maisch said she is hopeful McCain will support expanding background checks for gun sales, but “you never know with those guys.”
“I hope he does the right thing,” she said.
