Obama Puts Gun-Control Issue on Back Burner

[Raskolnik]

Excerpted from Chicago Tribune:

Advocates say they are still looking to him for leadership

By John McCormick | Tribune reporter | April 27, 2009

In July 2007, when the presidency was still a long-shot proposition, Barack Obama stopped at Vernon Park Church of God in Chicago to deliver a fiery sermon challenging the government, the gun lobby and the public to do more to stop gun violence.

"Our playgrounds have become battlegrounds. Our streets have become cemeteries. Our schools have become places to mourn the ones we've lost," he told a standing-room-only congregation at the Far South Side church. "The violence is unacceptable, and it's got to stop."

As he expressed outrage over 32 Chicago public schoolchildren having been killed that previous school year, Obama called for better enforcement of existing gun laws, tighter background checks on gun buyers and a permanent assault-weapons ban.

...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-gunsapr27,0,5634133.story


I didn't care for Obama's gun-control positions as a candidate, and I'm glad he's not going to derail more important issues to take on a sure-fire political loser issue like gun control.

[jody]

1. The issue will not go away until Obama says "I will veto every bill to renew AWB". n/t

[villager]

2. You don't like his call for better enforcement of existing laws, and tighter background checks?

:shrug:

[Raskolnik]

4. I did agree with those positions

But candidate Obama in '07, and especially in '04, did not really limit himself to those policies.

I'm glad his position has evolved.

[villager]

15. well, putting aside the use of the word "evolved" for his current political situation...

....I'm glad to see you support those first two ideas of his...

[Raskolnik]

19. Well, it has evolved, and I believe evolved for the better.

That's what happens when politicians move from the local to regional to national stage. Things that sounded nice in speeches to Chicago church groups in 2004 might not be workable policy proposals for the nation in 2009. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad. In this case, I think its good.

[villager]

20. I don't know if realpolitik is the same as "evolved," unless you're defining the term

strictly in terms of "changing to meet prevailing circumstances...."

[MercutioATC]

5. I believe it's his call to reinstate the AWB that frustrates people.

I don't know of anybody who suggests that we shouldn't enforce the laws we already have.

As far as the background checks, I feel they're adequate as is.

[CatWoman]

3. this should make Bill Maher very happy

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Actually, Maher was complaining about the Dems refusal to pursue gun control

just last weekend.

[CatWoman]

12. I know; I was being sarcastic

:)

[Warren DeMontague]

21. The comedian- I forgot his name- was right on. One of his best lines about this:

(paraphrasing) "The gun people argue that the guns are necessary to protect their constitutional rights- but look at the PATRIOT act; they'll hand over the other constitutional rights in a heartbeat if the request is wrapped in a flag. Basically, now, the guns are necessary to protect the guns"

[Raskolnik]

22. Or, perhaps not all "gun people" are the same. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

24. Perhaps.

Nevertheless-- the ones I've had long conversations with on the issue; including some in my immediate family- tend to display a disturbing myopia past the subject of the 2nd Amendment (say, on towards the 4th...) The ONLY threat to "liberty" they seem to be concerned with has to do with this fantasy of their guns being taken away, something which is never going to happen. If some kid in Michigan gets shot by the police for smoking a joint, well, too bad.

[Enthusiast]

16. Bill Maher knows nothing about guns

He is not a hunter, he doesn't live in rural America.

While I like Bill's position on some issues he is not exactly the guy that should make gun legislation proposals.

Assault weapons shoot one time with every pull of the trigger, just like my brother's 1100 Remington shotgun, the one he uses for deer hunting. I've always used a Remington 870, a "pump" shotgun, which requires the user to pump a section on the stock to eject and reload a shell. Law enforcement generally prefers the type of shotgun I use, the pump type, as it can actually be fired faster than a semi-auto, and hits harder. So, what we have with the anti-gun progressive community is a sad lack of knowledge of gun types and uses.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Unfortunately, the serious gun nuts will remain convinced that he's taking them away.

But thankfully, our Democratic Party has realized that this is a loser issue; just like trying to control peoples' sex lives and reproductive systems is a loser for the GOP.

What few conventional wisdom poo-bahs seem to want to grasp is that the American People don't want to spend billions of dollars on a government that micro-manages their personal affairs. I don't really give a shit about guns; I'm concerned about gun violence-- but I understand the arguments of people who don't want them outlawed. What I would appreciate, however, is if the folks so concerned about the "freedom" to own guns would broaden their scope a little, and argue as forcefully against a $40 Billion dollar war on pot smoking or government intrusion into peoples' birth control choices.

Yes, I know, some do.

[MercutioATC]

9. As long as Obama's own website says that he wants to reinstate the AWB, yes.

...and you don't have to be a "gun nut" to reach that conclusion.

[Enthusiast]

18. Bingo!

You gots it, MercutioATC. And the truth be told, an assault weapons ban would not save a single life, not a single one. Because assault weapons do not "spray" bullets as the ignorant presume they do.

[elfin]

8. We will have a solution once America

loves its kids more than it loves its assault weapons.

[DireStrike]

10. In other words, never.

Personally I'm glad we're not wasting time with cosmetic laws that just piss people off.

[TheWraith]

11. "Assault weapons" are virtually unrepresented in crime.

Contrary to popular myth, rifles represent only about 3% of homicides.

[Raskolnik]

14. A "solution" to what, though?

If you think that removing 100% of "assault weapons" from circulation tomorrow would result in an appreciable drop in violent crime, I think you are very much mistaken.

Personally, I'd much rather Obama spent political capital on health care and getting us out of Iraq than mucking around with legislation that only serves to stoke the right-wing fears of Obama's policies.

[friendly_iconoclast]

23. Behold the new gun control meme- The "Lovejoy"!

Derived from Helen Lovejoy of "The Simpsons", this uses her cliched line "Won't somebody please think
of the children!" to typecast people who oppose more restrictions on guns as indifferent to the deaths of children.



If elfin wants to save children's lives, he/she should lobby to ban privately own swimming pools, as far more
children are killed and injured by them than by guns....

[benEzra]

26. Those "kids" aren't being killed by protruding rifle handgrips.

The overwhelming majority of criminal and random violence in this country involves handguns, knives, clubs, bare hands and feet, and shotguns, in that order; only 3% of U.S. murders involve any type of rifle, never mind rifles with modern styling.

But never underestimate the ability of the repubs at the Brady Campaign to use handgun, shotgun, or traditional-looking-rifle murders to stump for a ban on rifles with modern styling.

[Enthusiast]

13. The assault weapons ban

ignores the fact that assault weapons are not automatic weapons, like a machine gun. The ban does nothing to curb crime and assault weapons are no more dangerous to law enforcement than any other semi-auto deer rifle or shotgun. It is a lose lose proposition for President Obama. Just because a gun looks more dangerous doesn't make it so.

Essentially we have those with the very least knowledge of firearms suggesting they know best when it comes to legislation. This is just plain wrong, it only serves to give NRA types ammunition (pun intended).

FWIW, I am a long time hunter but never a member of the NRA.

[FudaFuda]

17. If it aint happenin', why do I keep hearing about it? There is no 'news' in that article.

The Trib's just stirring the pot to keep the stink in the room. In that whole article there's no new quote, no new statement of position, no new event ... it's all just a rehash of statements and innuendos from the recent past to keep public opinion hot and keep the pressure on the administration. They should've published it as opinion.

[Craftsman]

27. Because on Obama's official website it says we want to reinstate the AWB

As long as that is there it will be an issue to many.

[X_Digger]

28. And SoS Clinton, DHS Sec Napolitano, AG Holder..

Seems every couple of weeks some administration official has to mention it, only to (thankfully) get smacked down.

[Phoonzang]

25. Good...

He doesn't need to feed the "THAR COMIN' FER OUR GUNZ!!!" crowd right now. More important things to worry about now.