Obama officially, publicly calls for new gun control; [Update: NRA responds]

by Chad D. Baus

On Sunday, March 13, 2011, the president of the United States began publicly call for new gun control limits against law-abiding citizens in hopes of curtailing the behavior of the lawless. Gun rights activists have known this day was coming since the day Barack Obama won his party's nomination (and since John McCain won his).

In an op-ed published in the Arizona Daily Star, Obama pointed to the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in his carefully worded, no-doubt poll-tested call for "reform."

(Note: That the newly-elected House leadership will stop any Obama "reform" item dead in its tracks is by no means a sure thing. Consider these recent headlines: "GOP to look at federal gun laws" and "Boehner meets with NYC Mayor Bloomberg")

Parroting recent press releases from gun control organizations like Mayors Against Illegal Guns and The Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, Obama wrote that improved and expanded background checks are needed to prevent gun violence.

But as the National Shooting Sports Foundation has stated, "the recent incident in Tucson was not caused by the lack of any gun-control law but by a breakdown in our nation's mental health system." Nevertheless, NSSF has said that the industry remains supportive of making further enhancements to the current system, provided the Second Amendment and privacy rights of law-abiding Americans are fully respected.

While Obama's op-ed was long on poll-tested rhetoric and short on specifics, there can be no doubt that what he will support is mandatory background checks on ALL transfers of firearms, including those between private individuals at gun shows, such as is proposed in U.S. Senate Bill 35. And based on his record, there can be no doubt he would sign much more egregious gun control legislation should Congress manage to pass it.

From 1994 to 2002, Obama served as a director of the Joyce Foundation, the number one source of funds for anti-gun organizations. As a director, Barack Obama wrote checks for tens of millions of dollars to extremist gun control organizations such as the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and the Violence Policy Center.

While a member of the Illinois legislature, Obama expressed support for or voted for a ban on the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons and an increase in state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms.

As a member of the U.S. Senate, Obama voted against a bill that eventually made frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers illegal.

During the 2008 campaign, Obama claimed he supported the Second Amendment while admitting he was opposed to the legal right to bear arms via concealed carry laws.

But in his March 13, 2011 op-ed, Obama sought to perpetuate a provable lie, writing that "my administration has not curtailed the rights of gun owners - it has expanded them..."

As we approach the 2012 presidential campaign season, it is clear from this comment, and from the overall tone of his op-ed that Obama is feeling the pressure to appease the gun ban extremists in his base, while at the same time perpetuating the myth that he is not a threat to the Second Amendment.

In 2008, that myth was perpetuated by a willing media via a phony pro gun group registered by the Democratic Leadership Council - the American Hunters and Shooters Association. And although the faux gun group ceased all activities and shut down its website more than a year ago, that doesn't appear to be an impediment to the media's willingness to use AHSA to perpetuate the myth. Consider this article from The Washington Post, which quotes AHSA's founder but makes no mention of the fact that the group is now defunct:

Ray Schoenke, a former Washington Redskins player who founded American Hunters and Shooters Association, a moderate gun-rights group that backed Obama, said the president should instead examine the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

"I would promote background checks versus trying to reinstall the assault weapons ban," Schoenke said.

So despite his fake gun group having imploded, it appears from his op-ed, which makes no mention of assault weapons or extended magazines, that Obama is still taking Schoenke's advice, and that the media is still going to use AHSA in their efforts to try and prop up the notion that Obama poses no threat to gun rights.

But it is going to be a lot more difficult to hide his Presidential record than it was his support for gun control in Illinois.

While he has not yet addressed the issue via legislation, as gun control extremists hoped he would when he was elected, Obama has conducted himself as an anti-gun president, just as gun rights activists predicted he would:

• Day 1: President Obama officially declares war on your guns!
• In his own words: Tape of Obama calling for concealed carry ban uncovered
• "Yes We Can . . . Ban Guns" - Obama Announces Gun Ban Agenda
• President-elect Obama's Employment Application Form Demands to Know if Applicants Are "Registered" Gun Owners
• Obama continues to build anti-gun rights team: Nominates Eric Holder as AG
• Barack Obama's Chief of Staff is Sarah Brady's "go-to guy" - a "good friend" of gun control
• Obama's "Drug Czar" pick offers more proof of anti-gun agenda
• Obama's anti-gun Attorney General makes it official: Gun bans are coming
• Obama's National Park Service declares ban on use of lead ammo and sinkers in national parks!
• Obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns
• Department of Defense makes, then reverses decision to destroy all once-fired military brass
• President Obama's Secretary of Education rounds out anti-gun cabinet
• Pelosi: 'We want registration'; Holder: 2A won't 'stand in the way'
• And They Call Us Paranoid: Obama administration labels millions upon millions of Americans as 'rightwing extremists'
• Obama's gun control plans center on South American treaty as an end-run around the Constitution
• Obama continues trend of appointing rabid gun-haters to important administration positions
• Buckeye Firearms Association joins groups opposing Sotomayor confirmation
• Sportsman Groups Push for Sunstein Defeat
• Editorial: The feds take a shot at guns
• Will Health Care Reform Regulate Guns?
• Obama administration push for gun ban continues
• TSA forces Federal Officers to carry locked guns?
• Feds funding Ohio study that could lead to regulating shooting ranges in attempt to decrease suicide rates
• Obama backs international gun control treaty
• Obama administration's ATF Reverses Interpretation of Gun Control Act; Redefines "Transfers" of Firearms
• NRA Opposed To Kagan Nomination To U.S. Supreme Court
• Obama admin. blocks import of historical M1 rifles from South Korea; Highly collectible firearms possibly slated for destruction
• Obama reveals anti-gun U.N. intent: Sends ex-Seattle mayor as Rep
• NRA strongly opposes the nomination of Andrew Traver to head BATFE, Calls on President Obama to withdraw nomination
• ATF Overreaches Again – Threatens Rights

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association

[UPDATE]

View the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre's response to the Obama op-ed on FoxNews.com:

The NRA has also sent a strongly-worded letter to President Obama which offers concrete suggestions on what the administration could do to reduce crime. Click here to read the entire letter.

The NRA has told The New York Times that it will not participate in a meeting with Obama in meetings he says are intended to find "common ground."

"Why should I or the N.R.A. go sit down with a group of people that have spent a lifetime trying to destroy the Second Amendment in the United States?" observed LaPierre.