Major Garrett: Obama has expanded, not reduced gun rights

[hack89]

Source: CBS

CBS News) National Journal White House correspondent Major Garrett said there has been no debate in Washington since the '90s about gun control, and that President Obama has expanded access to guns since he was elected.

He said the president signed a bill into law about credit card consumer protections that included a measure that allowed people to carry concealed guns in national parks. "President Obama expanded the use of concealed carry on federal property. That's what's going on in Washington recently."

Garrett said Democrats have "internalized" the crippling debate over gun control that some say cost presidential candidate Al Gore the election in Florida in 2000. He said Democrats are not willing to take up the discussion.

"It's just not going to happen," he said, noting that gun restriction advocate Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, might introduce a bill it will "die a quick painful death."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505267_162-57477652/major-garrett-obama-has-expanded-not-reduced-gun-rights/

---

Perfectly sums up the present political atmosphere regarding gun control.

[lapfog_1]

1. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, might introduce a bill it will "die a quick painful death."

I wonder if it will be as quick and as painful of a death as the victims of Aurora suffered?

[bluestateguy]

2. and the Wicker Amendment that allows Amtrak passengers to carry unloaded guns in their luggage

I don't expect the NRA to support him, but a simple thank you when he does something that they favor would be appreciated.

[booley]

3. and of course this PROVES how anti gun Obama is

as far as the right is concerned anyway.

They will either ignore this, brush it off or as the head of the NRA did, invent some insane conspiracy theory...

(sigh)

[Dustlawyer]

4. Unfortunately, gun control issues coming up now hurt Obama and help Rmoney!

Obama is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't speak to these issues. I know it sounds bad, but the focus needs to get back on Bain and Rmoney's taxes. I firmly believe that this country needs to have this debate and enact responsible gun laws on a National level to stop this madness. Having this issue come up now, ironically, makes any gun control less likely to happen and will cause us seats in the House and Senate, and possibly the Presidency. We need to keep our eye on the ball and work smart. We do need to try to put a stop to this madness!

[primavera]

5. My, how the mighty have fallen

Two days after yet another in an endless string of horrific, senseless gun massacres, the best our government has to offer is: "Hey, we put more guns into the hands of more crazy people! Vote for us!" Perhaps Obama should start making his public appearances dipped in blood, that'll win over those gun-toting swing voters!

[AndyTiedye]

9. The NRA is More Powerful than the Democratic Party

[polichick]

11. Yep - Dem "leaders" stopped fighting for sane gun & environmental laws...

...long ago.

[hack89]

13. No - the voters are more powerful.

as it should be.

[primavera]

16. Unfortunately, some voters are more equal than others

Politicians bow to gun enthusiasts because they constitute a disciplined single-issue voter block, much of which inhabits that unpredictable conservative Dem/moderate Repuke/Libertarian swing segment of the electorate. Gun control proponents are concentrated on the left, who have no alternative other than to meekly go along with the status quo, and few are prepared to cast their ballots based upon that one issue. There is consequently no percentage in it for politicians to back gun control proposals. That demonstrates that gun advocates are more vocal and militant, not necessarily that they represent the majority of voters. Most polls show that, quite the contrary, the overwhelming majority of voters support stricter gun control laws.

[hack89]

18. Voters in the middle of political spectrum are vital to national elections

they are also vital in "purple" states. That is basic political reality.


And you are wrong about "the overwhelming majority of voters support stricter gun control laws."

Additionally, support for the broader concept of making gun laws "more strict" is at its lowest by one percentage point (43%). Forty-four percent prefer that gun laws be kept as they are now, while 11% favor less strict laws.

A majority of Americans also oppose the AWB

For the first time, Gallup finds greater opposition to than support for a ban on semiautomatic guns or assault rifles, 53% to 43%. In the initial asking of this question in 1996, the numbers were nearly reversed, with 57% for and 42% against an assault rifle ban. Congress passed such a ban in 1994, but the law expired when Congress did not act to renew it in 2004. Around the time the law expired, Americans were about evenly divided in their views.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150341/record-low-favor-handgun-ban.aspx

[primavera]

19. They're vital in this country, alright

But our two-party, winner-takes-all system of government isn't terribly democratic.

As for polls, here's a quick list of polls showing popular support for stricter gun control laws. It's a secondary source article listing various polls, I know, and I do apologize, but I have to go be productive and don't have time right now to find a more complete list of primary sources for you.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/07/23/aurora-and-the-media-myth-of-public-opposition/187276

[Igel]

20. "Semiautomatic guns known as assault rifles."

Sigh. What can you do?

Perhaps we should pity the poor people that work at Gallup. I mean, it's hard work carrying out all those palls.

What, you say "pall" is a coffin? Eh. So Gallup isn't Starbugs. Just a trivial diffidence involving a coupling of words. Nothing much to frat over.

I mean, it's nut like words actively mutter or anything. Ass long ass you gut fairly close to the right word, that's god enough.

Personally, I'd wish they'd ban assault raffles. Or maybe salt Ruffles.

(Yes, I do have a 1st Amendment right to free association.)

[spin]

22. You state, "polls show that the majority of voters support stricter gun contol laws."

However some while may, many of the main polls disagree ...

Gun Control Polls Show Longterm Decline In Support, Despite Columbine Bump

Posted: 07/20/2012 2:30 pm Updated: 07/20/2012 3:54 pm

WASHINGTON -- If recent history is a guide, the mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., on Friday is unlikely to move poll results about guns rights and gun control in any lasting way.

Thirteen years ago, another shooting rampage at Columbine High School, not far from Aurora, produced a brief bump in support for stricter gun laws, but that new support had eroded a year later and ultimately gave way to a longer-term decline.

***snip**

The tragedy helped provoke a national debate over gun control laws, which in turn produced a flurry of polls checking Americans' opinions on the wisdom of such laws. A few weeks after the shootings, Pew Research found 65 percent of Americans said it was more important to control gun ownership, while only 30 percent said it was more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns. That was a eight-point jump in those favoring gun control laws (up from 57 percent) since the pollster had last asked the question in December 1993.

The post-Columbine bump had faded about a year later, and support for stricter gun laws remained roughly constant over the next eight years. Following the 2008 election, however, support for stricter gun laws dropped off considerably. By April 2010, Pew Research found more Americans placing greater importance on protecting the rights of gun owners (49 percent) than on restricting gun ownership (45 percent).


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/gun-control-polls-aurora-shooting_n_1690169.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

October 26, 2011
Record-Low 26% in U.S. Favor Handgun Ban
Support for stricter gun laws in general is lowest Gallup has measured

PRINCETON, NJ -- A record-low 26% of Americans favor a legal ban on the possession of handguns in the United States other than by police and other authorized people. When Gallup first asked Americans this question in 1959, 60% favored banning handguns. But since 1975, the majority of Americans have opposed such a measure, with opposition around 70% in recent years.



***snip***



***snip***



***snip***


http://www.gallup.com/poll/150341/record-low-favor-handgun-ban.aspx

[Iggy]

17. HOW Many Lobbies do Democrats in Congres

have to bend over and kiss the big phat arse of??

1. NRA

2. Israel

3. etc.

4. etc.

5 ad nauseum.

[agent46]

6. As recently as May

Obama sought to ease restrictions on gun exports. Certainly, arming the world is good for business. Unfortunately the NRA and its rabid paranoid leadership thinks it's all a trap! He's still gunna take our guns away!

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/03/476162/obama-administration-plans-to-reduce-regulation-of-firearm-exporters/?mobile=nc

[xtraxritical]

8. We've been "arming the world" for a long time, weapons are our biggest export.

[truthisfreedom]

7. CBSnews online needs an EDITOR.

'"It's just not going to happen," he said, noting that gun restriction advocate Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, might introduce a bill it will "die a quick painful death."'

SHOULD read: ...might introduce a bill but it will die a quick and painful death.

[Enrique]

10. Chris Hayes said something funny about this

he said the last time he heard a debate about gun control was on "The West Wing", where it seemed like that's what they were constantly talking about in Washington.

[asjr]

12. The first time I realized Major Garrett was

not just a sporadic guest but will turn up where one least expects him to be, I could tell the back-biters, the in your face liars were going to be in the news. Then when someone I had never heard from or about, Ms C cup was going to be doing the same thing the media is never going to be apolitical. They have made up their collective mind to foster the unbelievable, including Chucky Toady.

[calimary]

14. Must have been sheer agony for major garrett to have to report this.

You can get the correspondent out of Pox Noise but you can't get the Pox Noise out of the correspondent.

[Doctor_J]

15. The NRA idiots won't believe facts

they're as brainwashed as the Hate Radio addicts. How embarrassing for the party. Next they'll be bragging about how they've cut SS and Medicare.

[Igel]

21. That's makinga virtue out of necessity.

He was presented with a bill he said was essential concerning credit card interest rates.

It's how you get things done when you're in the opposition. You get a bill that you don't much like but which is going to pass because the other side wants it. You hold it up enough to get something in that sweetens it enough for you included. If you hold it up too much, you'll get trampled. If it's too bitter for the other side you'll get trampled. But "the other side" is Congress, not the president.

You also have to make sure it's not a deal killer with the president.

Lots of (D) didn't like this measure, but they needed to have the bill pass quickly enough with enough votes. The national part concealed weapon approval was bitter, but the speed and # of votes it bought outweighed the bitterness.

Obama had little choice: The bill was urgent, he'd said (everything's urgent). He'd built up its importance. Then to say that the prohibition on concealed weapons in national parks in the bill he was presented with was so important that it outweighed this really urgent bill ... He signed it.

Yes, he expanded the freedom a bit. No, that doesn't mean he especially liked doing it or wouldn't have struck it given a line-item veto.