Louie Gohmert defended the right to purchase assault weapons, saying it is a right enshrined in the Second Amendment, during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday." Gohmert said the country needs an "open-minded conversation" about gun violence because people's emotional reaction to tragedies like the shooting in Newtown,is to call for stricter gun laws.
"Well, for the reason George Washington said a free people should be an armed people," Gohmert said, responding to a question on why people need assault weapons. "It ensures against the tyranny of the government. If they know that the biggest army is the American people, then you don’t have the tyranny that came from King George. That is why it was put in there, that’s why once you start drawing the line, where do you stop? And that’s why it is important to not just look emotionally, our reaction, Chris, is to immediately say, 'let’s get rid of all guns.'"
Gohmert argued that more guns would lessen gun violence, saying he wished the principle at Sandy Hook Elementary School that was attacked Friday had been armed. "I wish to god she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands, but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids," he said.
Gohmert said mass killers choose locations where they know there will not be any armed resistance: "Every mass killing of more than three people in recent history has been in a place where guns were prohibited. These -- except for one, they choose this place, they know no one ill be armed."
The train is near full and I stay in my seat until we reach the Raurimu Spiral, a four-mile engineering marvel that winds up onto a volcanic plateau. Soon after we cross a viaduct with snow-capped Mount Ruapehu in view, the North Island’s highest mountain and one of three active volcanoes we’ll pass (along with Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro).
Between 2pm and 4pm I find myself shoulder-to-shoulder with passengers in the open-air viewing car as we trundle over a series of viaducts, the tracks criss-crossing the white-water Rangitikei River and its sheer cliffs and gorges. It’s the scenic highlight of the trip, which ends on schedule at 6.25pm at Wellington station. As I’ve been sitting for nearly 11 hours, I skip the five-minute cab ride and walk 30 minutes around the waterfront to the Copthorne Hotel.
My only gripe on this first leg is that the station lavatories were locked for each of four five-minute stops, where passengers could stretch their legs but where it would be very nice to have the option of using a non-swaying bathroom. The viewing car, however, was a fresh-air blessing on the long ride.
There’s plenty to keep me occupied next day at the Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa), which is within shouting distance of the hotel and has plenty of compelling hands-on “discovery” exhibits. But I’m also keen to head over to Zealandia – the country’s first mainland sanctuary dedicated to saving New Zealand’s critically endangered wildlife.
The (free) shuttle drops me at the Zealandia entrance, just 15 minutes from the museum. The entry fee of NZ$18.50 (9.50) seems expensive, but the site’s 555 acres are enclosed by a predator-proof fence and you can’t expect saving the planet to come cheap.
Ian, who’s guiding our (free) walking group of international visitors, explains the plight of the country’s bird life, especially flightless ones like the kiwi.
“Native birds have been no match for New Zealand’s millions of introduced rats, possums and stoats. Several nearby islands were cleared of exotic animals then quarantined from human contact in the hope the bird life would recover. Zealandia was the first mainland site to try the same thing.”
Strolling along the asphalt walking track, we spot several tuataras, native reptiles once believed extinct, plus a dozen or more kaka parrots, and several tuis, distinguished by their distinctive white-tufted throats. Ian shows no surprise when a pair of flightless takahes emerges from the brush right beside the path. “Two of the last 250 takahes left in the entire world,” he tells us.
Wellington itself is a wonderful city, thanks in part to its array of houses built on impossibly sheer cliffs and hillsides. The centre’s Courtenay Place is the main nightlife area, and while there’s no shortage of restaurants and bars to choose from, I like The Library best, a stylish bar and live music venue that’s furnished with bookshelves.
On Wednesday morning I check in at the ferry terminal for an 8.15am departure. The ferry has a food court, televisions with lounge seating, arcade games, in-house cinema and Wi-Fi access. There’s even a licensed bar, complete with faux stained-glass windows.
I don’t really need any of it though, because the day is clear and sunny and the giant harbour, which takes the ship a full 30 minutes to navigate, has all my attention. At 10.30am we enter the sheltered and beautiful Marlborough Sounds, and by 11.30am we’ve covered the 87 miles from Wellington to the wharf at Picton.
The Coastal Pacific train departs from the nearby station at 1pm, and after 20 minutes of postcard-perfect sheep-filled farmland, we’re suddenly surrounded by vines. New Zealand’s sauvignon blancs and pinot noirs are world-renowned, and the Marlborough region accounts for much of their international reputation.
Between 2.30pm and 4.30pm, the train lives right up to its name as the tracks parallel the ocean, with the snow-dusted Kaikoura Ranges on our right. I strike up a conversation with Margaret, who turns out to be a Christchurch resident, and who often takes the overland route to Wellington. “I’ve flown it lots of times, but when I can, I always take the train because it’s so much more relaxing.” A personal audio commentary is available, but I don’t plug it in because I’ve got Margaret, who tells me about the rebuilding of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake; she also suggests I try Kaikoura blue cod for dinner while I’m in the city. We part ways on the outskirts of Christchurch, and 20 minutes later the train pulls into the city’s train station, on time, at 6.20pm.
They’re fully booked at the Chateau on the Park Hotel so I make do with humbler digs nearby, rising early for the 8.15am departure of my TranzAlpine day trip. For the first hour we rattle across the flat Canterbury Plains, before the train begins its climb to the town of Springfield. All TranzAlpine’s carriages are due to be replaced by 2013, but I rather like these creaky, time-worn ones – though there’s no headset commentary and only sporadic information via the PA.
The best scenery begins just after Springfield, as I pack in beside my fellow passengers in the viewing car. It’s a wild and windy ride as we’re jostled through tunnels and across viaducts. The Rakaia then the Waimakariri rivers are in view for much of the trip, their “braided” layers of sediment diverting their watercourses this way and that. Following an hour’s break to stroll about the town of Greymouth, I reboard the train for the journey back to Christchurch, where we arrive at 6.15pm.
You don’t often see a city centre that has been truly razed, but downtown Christchurch is still largely a patchwork of car parks where, up until February of 2011, buildings once stood. It’s fascinating to see a city in transition, and such things as its pop-up shipping container shopping mall, in the heart of downtown, are symbolic of the locals’ can-do spirit. It’s rare for planners to have a clean slate, at least in a peaceable environment. It will look entirely different in years to come, so I’m more than happy my New Zealand train journey has finished here, in a city that has only just begun.
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