Long opposed to new gun laws, Sen. Bob Casey said Wednesday that in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings he would now support bills to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.
 
Casey told The Philadelphia Inquirer the shootings that left 20 students and six staff dead in Newtown, Connecticut, have "haunted" him. He won a second term last month while still touting his opposition to gun control, but he said he reassessed the gun issue over the weekend.
 
Casey said that images of the power of the weapon and the number of bullets that hit each child should haunt every public official.
 
Casey spoke on the same day that President Barack Obama pressed lawmakers to reinstate the ban on military-style assault weapons and restrict high-capacity ammunition clips - the measures that Casey says he now supports.