Friday, January 28, 2011

Newsweek: Obama to push for more gun control

From Newsweek [emphasis added below]:
At the beginning of his State of the Union address, President Obama tipped his hat to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who’s now recuperating in a Houston medical facility. But throughout the hourlong speech, he never addressed the issue at the core of the Giffords tragedy—gun control—and what lawmakers would, or should, do to reform American firearm-access laws.

...

But in the next two weeks, the White House will unveil a new gun-control effort in which it will urge Congress to strengthen current laws, which now allow some mentally unstable people, such as alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, to obtain certain assault weapons, in some cases without even a background check.

Tuesday night after the speech, Obama adviser David Plouffe said to NBC News that the president would not let the moment after the Arizona shootings pass without pushing for some change in the law, to prevent another similar incident. “It’s a very important issue, and one I know there’s going to be debate about on the Hill.”

The White House said that to avoid being accused of capitalizing on the Arizona shootings for political gain, Obama will address the gun issue in a separate speech, likely early next month. He’s also expected to use Arizona as a starting point, but make the case that America’s gun laws have been too loose for much longer than just the past few weeks.
Article here. I guess we'll find out if the Republican spine transplant operation from last November's election was successful. I think the prognosis, at best, can be described as "guarded optimism". We'll see if the R's can stand up to what will no doubt be described by the anti-gun media (but I repeat myself) as Obambam's "reasonable restrictions".

1 comment:

FrankC said...

You don't need new laws, just enforce the ones you've got.
As I (not a USAnian) understand it, even in "shall issue" states and counties, felons and fruitloops are banned from owning a firearm. Friends of the sheriff excepted.