Aurora Victim’s Mom Calls McCain Town Hall ‘Appalling’

DAVID TAINTOR FEBRUARY 22, 2013, 6:10 AM

The mother of a young man killed in the Aurora, Colo. movie theater massacre told TPM on Thursday she was appalled at the way Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) handled her question about an assault weapons ban at a town hall event in Phoenix.

“I was very surprised that a senator, who has been in office for over 30 years, would address a grieving mother, who just lost her son exactly seven months prior — yesterday was the 20th, I lost my son on 7-20-2012 — to tell me that I needed ‘some straight talk,’” Caren Teves said by phone.

At Wednesday’s town hall, Teves told McCain that her son, Alex, was killed in the massacre, and she urged the senator to support a ban on assault weapons. McCain responded: “I can tell you right now you need some straight talk. That assault weapons ban will not pass the Congress of the United States.”

The crowd, many of whom appeared to be pro-gun, burst into cheers and applause at McCain’s comments. But Teves said she wasn’t fazed by that, and those cheers, as captured by a local TV news crew, were only part of the story.

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