Despite the Tucson, Ariz., shooting, during which a gunman shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head and killed six others, several New York politicians have indicated that they don’t plan to change how they meet with constituents. Giffords (D-Ariz.) was meeting with constituents outside a grocery store when the shooting unfolded. Following the tragedy, Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said they planned to carry guns.

As Giffords recovers at the University Medical Center in Tucson and her accused shooter, 22-year-old Jared Loughner, faces court, local politicians explain their security measures.

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R) of the 25th Congressional District

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, freshman representative of the 25th Congressional District, has considered no changes to her personal security policy or her views on gun control, said John Buttarazzi, Buerkle’s chief of staff.

Some psychologists have claimed Loughner, the alleged shooter, displayed mentally unstable behavior.

‘This was a deranged individual,’ Buttarazzi said. ‘She remains a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.’

Buerkle posted a four-sentence statement to her House website that said she was shocked and saddened by the shooting.

Though dates and venues are yet to be determined for an upcoming town-hall meeting with Buerkle, she is still arranging the meeting for her constituents, Buttarazzi said.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) of the 28th Congressional District

Rep. Louise Slaughter spoke with Giffords on the morning of Jan. 7, a day before she was shot in Tucson, and said at a Jan. 10 press conference in Rochester that she was ‘stunned’ by the shooting.

‘And to think that she can’t go out and do her job without someone going out and shooting her in the head should really terrify all of us,’ said Slaughter, a Democratic representative.

In light of the Tucson shooting, Slaughter told reporters that she plans no changes to her security protocol and feels that firearms have no place on the floor of the House of Representatives. Mayor Eric Dyster of Niagara Falls offered Slaughter additional protection as a response, but Slaughter said in a press conference that she believes a bodyguard standing behind Giffords could not have prevented someone from shooting her in the head.

Slaughter, whose 28th Congressional District includes portions of Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls, has encountered violence against her office before. A brick was thrown through her office window in Niagara Falls on March 19, two days before Congress voted on the health care reform, according to a March 22 Associated Press article.

‘I’ve never been afraid for myself,’ Slaughter said at the press conference in Rochester. ‘To this day, I love going into Wegmans and staying there a half-day, just talking to people.’

Rep. Richard Hanna (R) of the 24th Congressional District

Freshman Rep. Richard Hanna still intends to meet with his constituents, said Reneé Gamela, Hanna’s Washington communications director.

‘We haven’t changed a thing,’ Gamela said.

Hanna has announced no upcoming town-hall meetings.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

On Jan. 12, New York’s junior senator flew with President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One to attend the memorial service for the shooting and to visit Giffords.

‘We may never make any sense of this heinous crime, but I remember how Gabby so often urged people to stand up to the violent language that divides us and focus on solutions,’ Gillibrand said in a statement that afternoon. ‘That is exactly what we need to do right now.’

Gillibrand’s office is not authorized to speak about the senator’s security policy.

Gillibrand was an opponent of gun control during her days in the House, even enjoying a 100 percent rating from the National Rifle Association at one point, according to a Jan. 23, 2009, press release by Gillibrand’s House office. One of her first Senate votes was in opposition to a bill that would expand gun rights in the District of Columbia, according to an article published in the (Albany) Times Union on Feb. 26, 2009.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.)

On his first day in office, New York’s new governor reopened the Capitol’s Hall of Governors to the public. The hall holds Cuomo’s suite of offices, according to a Jan. 10 article in the New York Daily News.

‘I’m comfortable with the security that we have here in the Capitol and that I have personally,’ Cuomo told the Daily News.

geclarke@syr.edu

Published on January 19, 2011 at 12:00 pm