Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Heckled By Pro-Gun Activists

[Hawk]

Sickos 

Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Heckled By Pro-Gun Activists
Posted: 01/29/2013


Neil Heslin, holding a picture of himself with his son Jesse, testifies at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)


Neil Heslin, the father of a 6-year-old boy who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, stoically faced down pro-gun activists last night.

More than 1,000 people attended a hearing before the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday to share their views on gun control, USA Today reported. Among them was Heslin, who held a large framed picture of himself and his son Jesse as he urged officials to consider strengthening gun laws in Connecticut.

But as he gave his emotional testimony, pleading with lawmakers to improve mental health options and to ban assault weapons like the one Adam Lanza used to murder his child and 25 other people, his speech was interrupted by dozens of audience members, The Connecticut Post reported.

“I still can't see why any civilian, anybody in this room in fact, needs weapons of that sort. You're not going to use them for hunting, even for home protection," Heslin said.

Pro-gun activists responded by calling out: "Second Amendment!"

Undeterred, Heslin continued. "There are a lot of things that should be changed to prevent what happened."

Heslin's son, Jesse McCord Lewis, was described by friends as a happy child, The Post reported. A "little cowboy," Jesse reportedly liked to play with the fake horses at a local Western-themed restaurant. After he was shot and killed by Lanza, a line of police officers on horseback joined the motorcade at the boy's funeral.

"He was a boy that loved life. Lived it to the fullest…He was my son, he was my buddy, he was my best friend." Heslin said.

[_aj_]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/01/29/neil_heslin_father_of_slain_6_year_old_jesse_lewis_heckled_by_gun_rights.html

[Mattyh7688]

wow nice photo of him and a baby.. 5 years later and not one other pic taken with his son.. he also aged more than ANYONE i have ever seen in 5 years.

[Kwon_2]

wow nice photo of him and a baby.. 5 years later and not one other pic taken with his son.. he also aged more than ANYONE i have ever seen in 5 years.

That's what loss and tragedy can do, i aged like a mofo from 36-39 due to deaths in the family and other losses.

[Mattyh7688]

That's what loss and tragedy can do, i aged like a mofo from 36-39 due to deaths in the family and other losses.

The death was two months ago.. not two years.. NO ONE ages that fast, unless your name is benjamin button

[Pray_4_War]

Twitchy is reporting that he was not heckled and MSNBC edited the video leaving out the part where Heslin asked if there was anyone in the room that could challenge the question why anyone needs so-called assualt weapons.  After which he paused, waited for an answer, and then asked again.  They have the unedited video on their site and I watched it.  There was no heckling.  The public is being manipulated again by the press and I would hope that eventually they would wise up and stop buying into this shit.  Here's a bit from the Twitchy page. 

 

Transcript:
 
“I ask if there’s anybody in this room that can give me one reason or challenge this question … why anybody in this room needs to have one of these assault-style weapons or military weapons or high-capacity clips. [Pause, waiting for response.]  Not one person can answer that question.”
 
Audience members:  ”[Unintelligible] Second Amendment shall not be infringed”
 
Public official: “Please no comments while Mr. Heslin is speaking. Or we’ll clear the room. Mr. Heslin please continue.”
 
Heslin waited for a response. And when he got that response, it wasn’t Heslin who registered outrage — it was the media.
 
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t about having compassion for a man who tragically lost his son; this was strictly about pushing a political agenda. Out of more than 17 minutes of footage, the kneejerk media focused exclusively on the non-existent “heckling.” Not on Heslin’s plea for a change in gun control policy. Not on his sorrow over never being able to spend another moment with his beloved son and “best friend.” To the media, this was nothing more than a chance to exploit one man’s raw emotions in order to gin up outrage.
 
And it’s utterly despicable.