Huckabee: Gun Laws Wouldn't Help

The debate on gun laws is already under way in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting:

• Mike Huckabee: "People want to pass new laws ... but this is a heart issue," he said on Fox News. "Laws don't change this kind of thing." He added: "We ask why there's violence in our schools, but we've systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?" More at the Huffington Post.
• A petition on the White House website urging laws to limit access to guns got 25,000 signatures—the number required to mandate a White House response—in a matter of hours.
• One of the leading advocates of gun control in Congress, Democrat Carolyn McCarthy, tells Politico that "the gloves are off" and she's prepared to "embarrass" the White House if it doesn't act.
• The Hill rounds up comments from Democratic lawmakers calling for action here, and a key Republican urging restraint here.
• White House spokesman Jay Carney said today wasn't the day to politicize the issue, but a Slate blogger says today was exactly the day to politicize the issue. Read it in full here.
• In his emotional news conference, President Obama said the nation needs "meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."

(More gun control stories.)