The Hill News

One of the biggest gun-control advocates in the House said there wasn't anything that could be done to make members of Congress safer.

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) said Tuesday on MSNBC that he just didn't think there was any solution to make House members safer while giving the same level of access to the public.

"I just don’t see that there’s much they can do, but the 435 members as you say, are constantly in motion," Quigley said. To a certain extent, we’re at the mercy of the public. But if we lose this, we lose this contact, it’s something very striking. I think our democratic process loses something if our members of the people’s House can’t communicate with the public. I’m going to a community meeting tonight, and many others this week. I just don’t see anything that’s viable that would work.

Quigley's comments might surprise some given that the congressman has been one of the most active members additional gun contr! ol laws and closing loopholes for buying guns. In recent days some gun control proponents have promised to propose new gun control laws in response to the Arizona shooting.

Still, Quigley said that the increased capacity gun clips that the Arizona shooter used should not have been accessible.

"You know, you’re not hunting deer or protecting your home, you’re hunting people, and this isn’t reasonable and we have a right to protect ourselves from such dangers," Quigley said.

A number of pro-gun control legislators have promised to submit new proposals to tighten restrictions on getting a gun. They include Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.).