Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:59 pm
Obama has countered and isolated the insanity of the right on guns by calling for rational policies that are common sense.
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After an introduction by Vice President Biden, President Obama said that we should be thinking about our responsibility to our kids and shielding them from harm. The president said that the voices of our children should lead us to change. The president pointed out there have been more than 900 gun deaths in the month since Sandy Hook. Obama promised to use the full weight of his office to make his gun control proposals a reality. Obama announced that he is going to take 23 executive actions to curb gun violence. The president called on Congress to act and act soon. He urged Congress to pass a universal background check bill. The president said 40% of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check.
The president then called for the assault weapons ban to be restored and a 10 round limit on magazines. He said talked about the Aurora shooting, and said, “Weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater.” The president called on Congress to pass legislation to get tougher on people who sell to, or buy guns for felons.
President Obama called all of his proposals common sense measures, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be easy to pass. Obama said there will be pundits and politicians out to gin up fear by claiming that this is an all out assault on liberty in order to generate higher ratings and revenue. He said the only way we’ll be successful is if the audience for the fearmongers also demands change. The president said, “This will not happen unless the American people demand it.
Obama turned up the heat on Congress, and urged the American people to ask their members of Congress if they support these measures. Obama made the point that the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were denied to the victims of mass shootings. Obama said, “When it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now.” The president closed saying, “Let’s do the right thing.”
The most striking aspect of the president’s remarks was the moral argument behind them. The president didn’t repeat one of the most common mistakes that the left has frequently made on this issue. The president didn’t try to argue policy. Instead, he matched the emotion of the right with an argument about doing the right thing.
The NRA has already shown their desperation with their latest ad bringing the president’s children into the conversation. There is a good chance that no legislation gets through the Republican House, but the executive actions guarantee that president will definitely do something about gun violence.
If Republicans and the right are going to continue to talk about any changes in radical terms like gun confiscation, the president will win this debate. This remarks were Obama’s next step in isolating the right in their insanity. The changes that the president proposed are far from radical, so if the right reacts by going completely bonkers, Democrats will be able to argue that Republicans are against keeping kids safe.
Obama is winning this narrative, and the NRA might be up against a moral argument that they will never win.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
