It now seems certain that the big push by president Obama for gun control legislation will be a failure. What began a few months ago as a plan to ban so called assault weapons and large capacity magazines has now been whittled down to nearly nothing. In January, Obama told the country that he would push for changes to the mental health system so that dangerous individuals could be monitored. He also told us that he would take on the makers of violent video games and films. Obama, of course, never did anything about these last two issues; they were just random promises that were abandoned as soon as they were given. Even the call for universal background checks has been dramatically reduced so that any change will affect only a small portion of gun sales. So what happened? Why did the effort at gun control fail so badly?
If you listen to the president or most of the Obamacrats, the problem has been the evil Republicans. I read a column this morning by Eleanor Clift who functions as the unofficial Minister of Talking Points for the Obamacrats. In her usual form, Clift parrots the message that she was given by the White House and announces that Obama has actually won the battle regarding gun control because America has seen Obama's reasonable proposals thwarted by the obstinant GOP. Clift says that this will lead to a big Democrat victory in the 2014 midterm elections. But this is a view that could only come from a brain dead lock step liberal pundit who is prepared to accept anything the White House says no matter how bizarre.
The truth is that the gun control efforts have failed because Democrats have not backed them. The Senate has 55 Democrats and 45 Republicans. According to Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, a ban of assault weapons would not get even 40 votes "at best". That means that at least one third of the Democrats would not support Obama's gun control efforts on that point. Reid has also said that limits on the size of magazines would not pass the Senate. Again, that means that Democrats have lined up against it. Look, we do not know if any of the Republicans in the Senate would vote in favor of these measures, but we can tell that if there are less than 50 votes for either measure, that the margin has to include significant numbers of Democrats in opposition. So president Obama has been touring the country campaigning against guns and telling America how we have to do something while achieving nothing.
It is most likely that we will see a vote in the next few weeks on the gun issues in the Senate. Talk of a fillibuster goes on and on, but it will never succeed. The vote is coming. At that point, senators like Pryor of Arkansas and Landrieu of Louisiana will have to go on record on this issue. So will other Democrats from states that are clearly hostile to gun control measures. This is going to squeeze these senators; they can either alienate the left wing base of the Democrats or the majority of voters in their states. Clift is correct that these gun measures will affect 2014. That effect, however, will be to undermine the vulnerable Democrat senators seeking election at that time.
If you listen to the president or most of the Obamacrats, the problem has been the evil Republicans. I read a column this morning by Eleanor Clift who functions as the unofficial Minister of Talking Points for the Obamacrats. In her usual form, Clift parrots the message that she was given by the White House and announces that Obama has actually won the battle regarding gun control because America has seen Obama's reasonable proposals thwarted by the obstinant GOP. Clift says that this will lead to a big Democrat victory in the 2014 midterm elections. But this is a view that could only come from a brain dead lock step liberal pundit who is prepared to accept anything the White House says no matter how bizarre.
The truth is that the gun control efforts have failed because Democrats have not backed them. The Senate has 55 Democrats and 45 Republicans. According to Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, a ban of assault weapons would not get even 40 votes "at best". That means that at least one third of the Democrats would not support Obama's gun control efforts on that point. Reid has also said that limits on the size of magazines would not pass the Senate. Again, that means that Democrats have lined up against it. Look, we do not know if any of the Republicans in the Senate would vote in favor of these measures, but we can tell that if there are less than 50 votes for either measure, that the margin has to include significant numbers of Democrats in opposition. So president Obama has been touring the country campaigning against guns and telling America how we have to do something while achieving nothing.
It is most likely that we will see a vote in the next few weeks on the gun issues in the Senate. Talk of a fillibuster goes on and on, but it will never succeed. The vote is coming. At that point, senators like Pryor of Arkansas and Landrieu of Louisiana will have to go on record on this issue. So will other Democrats from states that are clearly hostile to gun control measures. This is going to squeeze these senators; they can either alienate the left wing base of the Democrats or the majority of voters in their states. Clift is correct that these gun measures will affect 2014. That effect, however, will be to undermine the vulnerable Democrat senators seeking election at that time.
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