Can President Obama win on Gun Control?

The gun control battle lines have been drawn; with president Obama being the general on the side pushing for tougher gun control laws and a beefed up mental health measures, and the NRA being the command center for the gun enthusiast groups.   

Earlier today President Barack Obama revealed what he called a “common sense measures” plan to reduce gun violence; the plan includes legislation for a universal background check and new bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines.  Part of his plan includes 23 executive orders that are aimed at improving background checks, school security and mental health care, all in the effort to circumvent a Congress that likely would not go for any of the changes.  

Let’s be honest, Republicans will spend their time trying to stop Obama, and little time trying to find solution to gun violence we are seeing in our schools.

President Obama says “There will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists, publicly warning of a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty, not because that’s true, but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves,” then he added that “behind the scenes they’ll do everything they can to block any common sense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever.”

From the sound of the press conference the President is going to try to do something this time.  President Obama said he will “use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality,” and that “If there’s even one thing that we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, then we have an obligation to try. And I’m going to do my part.”

Obama was correct when he said that “This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged,” before adding that “We can’t put this off any longer.”

For the record, I believe in everything this president is doing on gun control.  Second, I am against the NRA fighting this battle in a dirty way, like they did when they attempted to use Obama's two children to further their agenda.

In a new NRA add, a voice asks “Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the ad’s narrator asks. “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools? Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he’s just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security.”

This add is not only “repugnant and cowardly” as Jay Carney said today, but it’s downright stupid.

The mood of the country has switched from being more pro owning any gun to allowing the federal government to limit the guns that people can own.

Not long after the tragedy in Newtown, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough told Wayne LaPierre of the NRA that “the extreme faction of the NRA will either face political reality or face political disaster.”  Now those political realities have actual changed the debate some.

According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, the first time in years this has happened, more Americans are saying that they now support a ban on certain types of assault rifles.  Plus a majority want universal background checks, a national database to track gun sales, and the banning of high-capacity magazines.  In addition to this, the NRA is losing its appeal since LaPierre’s fist press conference was criticized by a bipartisan swath of people.  Joe is correct, LaPierre is the NRA's worst enemy right now.

This battle is a turnaround for President Obama, in in his first year in office he signed more repeals of federal gun policies than in the eight years of President George W. Bush's terms.  That is a staggering testament to how much the White House feared the NRA and their possible effect on his reelection bid. 

According to Ruth Marcus, the Center for Responsive Politics says that the NRA and its affiliates have spent almost $20 million during the 2012 campaign; but some people think that their ability to actually harm someone’s political career is exaggerated.

“This myth that the NRA can destroy political careers is just not true,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday on “Meet the Press.”

“But in politics, perception shapes reality. Lawmakers fear the NRA, powerful or not” wrote Marcus.

As Mucus surmises, even Conservative judges can find a way to justify allowing the states to write their own laws.  This is what happened when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed important gun-control measures, even tougher than the ones that President Obama only talks about. 

What about existing guns.  Matt Miller points out that we can attempt to get the guns that kill 12,000 Americans a year by buying them back, like they did in L.A. last mother’s day; they bought 1,650 guns for $200 each. The people had no fear of being asked how the guns were obtained or whether or not they are illegal.  They gave the people Pre-paid Visa’s or grocery store card.  This money will then be spent back into the economy.   

So we are not powerless to do anything about guns.  Not only are we not powerless, we have a obligation to do so.