The Gun Debate Begins
Posted at 8 a.m. on Jan. 17
The National Journal provides an easy guide to President Obama’s new gun regulation proposals, laying out his goals for everything from the assault weapons ban to background checks to school safety.
“Anyone who buys a gun at a store, a gun show, or through other private sellers would have to go through a criminal background check before purchasing the weapon… Through executive action, the administration will give states $20 million in new incentives to share their information with a broader background-check system… Obama will nominate Todd Jones as permanent head of the alcohol and firearms bureau. The agency has been without a congressionally confirmed director in six years.”
New York Times Editorial Board: “the proposals announced on Wednesday were not remotely similar to what the gun lobby wanted Americans to believe they would be. They will not limit any law-abiding American’s right to own guns for hunting, or sport, or collection, or self-protection.”
Wall Street Journal: “prospects may be highest in the Democratic-controlled Senate for a measure to require background checks for all gun buyers… But Mr. Obama’s two other major proposals—to ban a set of semiautomatic rifles sometimes called assault weapons, as well as to bar high-capacity ammunition magazines—face a tougher path in the Senate. None of the measures has good odds of passage in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.”
National Review Editorial Board: “In theory, a comprehensive background-check system could be helpful — but in practice, any attempt to implement such a system would probably be cumbersome and unworkable, and the president did not offer specifics. It would be wrong to make gun sales difficult and expensive, or to spend massive amounts of money on a project with dubious benefits.”
