Obama The Pro-Gun President?
by Warner Todd HustonIs President Obama a surprising gun rights supporter? He might be if the Chicago Tribune’s Steve Chapman is correct. And Chapman isn’t the only one. It seems to be shaping up to be the lefty complaint du jour this week. Reality, however, might say something different.
Chapman makes a classic mistake that many people make when discussing matters political. He mistakes Washington’s inaction on an issue as some sort of statement on the ideology on that issue. While there are times when this is true, inaction is not necessarily a statement of support or opposition to an issue, but often just a matter of merely not having gotten to it yet, or even not being able to.
In this case Chapman is talking about guns. Is Obama for them, against them, indifferent to them? Chapman has a sneaking suspicion that President Obama is for our rights and only supports modest gun control measures. This is because the president hasn’t launched into all sorts of left-wing attempts to curtail our Second Amendment rights in his one year in office. But I think Chapman is reading too much into Obama’s inaction.
While it is true that Obama has signed a few bills with measures that have given gun rights advocates reason to celebrate and while it is true that Obama has not come to the aid of virulent anti-Second Amendment folks like the Brady Center, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Obama is the NRA’s next poster child!
In favor of guns, Obama has signed a law that allows guns to be carried in the national parks, he’s signed a bill that allows handguns to be checked and stored in baggage on AMTRAK, and has preserved the limits on government information on traced firearms from getting into the hands of folks outside of law enforcement. But as Chapman rightly notes, all these provisions were slipped into bills that Obama really wanted to sign and didn’t want to risk vetoing just over the gun issues.
Chapman also notes that Obama has yet to take up any of the anti-gun measures that the left had hoped he’d tackle.
Sure these things have upset the extreme left. Of course, anti-Constitutionalists like the Brady Center are upset. But these have been pretty safe moves by Obama since gun rights currently enjoy some of the most robust support in years from the voters and that support has been on the rise.
But does inaction like this equate to support for guns? Chapman seems as if he’s edging toward thinking that it does. But I believe he’s making a mistake to do so.
After all, President Obama has been a mite busy to worry about guns at this time, don’t you think? Immediately upon entering office he tackled healthcare, the Olympics, multiple bailouts, the economy, a take over of the auto industry, the laying low of Wall Street and the banking industry, and now even fat kids and gays in the military, not to mention two wars (because he hardly mentions them himself). That is quite a full dinner plate, there, wouldn’t you say?
Just because Obama hasn’t had the time to go after our gun rights doesn’t really mean he isn’t inclined to do so. There’s only so much time in a year, to be sure.
Finally, there is the little matter of political capital. As I said, gun rights enjoy a large positive image with the general American public at this time and Obama has wasted a lot of his once ample political capital on his debacle of a healthcare plan. If he wanted to take on gun rights, too, he’d have to have far more political strength than he now enjoys. So, his inaction is easier to attribute to his inability to take on the left-wing gun cause rather than his reticence to do so.
In any case, Chapman’s sneaking feeling that Obama isn’t as anti-gun as the far left wants him to be is not pat. There’s obviously a lot of reasons that Obama hasn’t turned his attention to guns. Being pro-gun isn’t likely one of them.
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123 Comments
Obama may sign "pro gun" legislation; but he is appointing "anti-gun" judges and regulators. He knows that it is the regulators, and the judges that will interpret and apply these laws. Do not be fooled; this fellow makes KY jelly jealous.
Steve Chapman is confusing Obama's nomination as Gun Salesman Of The Year with Obama actually being pro-gun. In fact, quite the contrary is true.
Obama is a snake in the grass, waiting to strike at the right time. There are other routes he can follow to obtain gun control in the U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMeDmV0ufU
"President Obama is for our rights and only supports modest gun control measures". Huh? Modest Gun Control? How many Gun Laws do we have? I think 2000 of them? Guns are one of the very few duties the Founders granted to the Federal Government yet States Regulate them by the County you live in.
In Sacramento County we do not get 50 CWs permits a year.
Even the most Liberal of the Founders such as T. Jefferson wrote about the rights of Gun owners to protect themselves as a most basic right of a Citizen.
"President Obama is for our rights and only supports modest gun control measures."
Don't you understand that Liberals/Progressives work in bits and pieces? They'll sneak through anything they can to get their regulatory "foot in the door".
Obama wants control of guns and everything else. Of course, he'll need MORE of your money to hire regulators.
obama is trying to look like Travette (sic) from Walker Texas Ranger !!!
BWAHHAHHAAHHHHHAAAAA!!
He's a real tough guy….pleassse.
Isn't there a image policeman somewhere?
A Marxist is not now nor never will be pro gun. Dupe Dude.
According to new interview on Trevor Loudon's Newzealblogspot.com with fellow Occidental
student, John C. Drew obama was a RAVING MARXIST at Occidental.
He also states that obama was born in red diapers.
A MUST "read" LISTEN TO VIDEO there!!
As if I didn't know.
The Obama administration is holding back from acting on gun rights until they get a majority in the Supreme Court who would overturn DC v. Heller. Heller is the law of the land at this point which Obama would like to ignore for the time being.
don't buy into anything Steve Chapman EVER says…
A Chicago Tribune editorialist who psoes as a 'libertarian' (he isn't) he is much more of a stealth disinformation guy. Here's the skinny on this bunch and guns:
They are totalitarian statists. Private ownership of guns is antithetical to their ideology. Period. The American people- and the Supreme Court- have spoken. Thanks to that, and former Atty Gen Ashcroft's ruling that gun ownership is an INDIVIDUAL right- as opposed to the previous position that it was a collective right (the ONLY
'collective' right enumerated by the founders. Fancy that…) the law is settled.
Obama knows this. So does Rahm Emanuel. Fighting this from the White House is a losing proposition (see 2000
elections for evidence). So, what to do?
Easy. Have Hillary and the State Dept do an 'end around' on this by signing on to the UN small arms treaty. Let the UN determine WHO in the world should own weapons. That's what's happening RIGHT NOW under all of our noses…
There is no way O would take on the issue of guns with the political climate he finds himself in. I am sure he had a checklist of things he was going to do when he entered the doors on Pennsylvania Ave, but has since scratched a few items. I really think the left made a tremendous mistake in thinking this country was ready for their revolution. I think they thought we were so stupid, fat and complacent, that they would be able to come in and run roughshod over the American people…..little did they know they would wake the sleeping giant….not a pretty thing waking a sleeping giant. "We the people" still understand that our guns are the one thing between us and them (out of control government).
And why would anything 'gun' be coming up now? Could it be to give the hard-right a little misdirection?
I for one am not biting this hook. As Beck says, "always watch what the other hand is doing". I believe
another faint, is the boots(reporters) on the ground with our Marines in Afghanistan. The Pres sees us
as a pen full of pit bulls & rottwielers so he's throwing us a little raw meat to keep us busy. No matter
to HIM how many Marines get blown to bits by the people practicing the 'religion of pieces'.
Nice hat!
Who is that masked man, Black Bart?
He looks like muchismo macho hombre!
Where I come from, good guys wear white hats…………….
I saw that video the other day. What a surprise! I find myself a bit suspicious of Drew not being able to find an outlet to tell his story during the campaign. He could have contacted GB or SH and you know at least one of them would have picked up the story. I guess better late than never…..
We have to be ever vigilant, when they think we've lost interest is
when the s*&t will hit the fan with their rotten agenda….Being
vigilent, they are cramming it down our throats, just think of what
they are capable of if they think we're not watching them…..
Start worrying when the press begins talking about how "pro-gun" the president is. Remember it's always bizarro land for the left.
Up is actually down, left is right, change means do a lot more of the same.
The only thing you can be sure of is when they say one thing, they will do another.
Obama is a grade A marxist certified 100% Progressive, it's not if it's when.
This is the same type of non-sense that we heard when he we elected, that he would now run to the center blah blah blah, some people just can't accept the reality that we have elected and incomptent Mao wannabe.
What's with this picture ????????
Any real' Westerner' KNOWS, you NEVER touch a mans hat, much less put it on your head.
Any real Westerner would NEVER offer his hat to another man to try on.
" signing on to the UN small arms treaty "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMeDmV0ufU
Smokin Mirrrors again; Watch the other hand,!
Marxists do not like the populous having guns to defend themselves from Tyranny. 0bama is NO friend of the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment.
Perhaps it's just that BHO is distracted, for the time being, as he has bigger fish to try(Healthcare, Cap&Trade, destroying the economy). Give him time, give him time. Once a Progressive/Facist, always a Progressive/Facist.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
Pic: Clevon Little…"Excuse me while I whip this out."
Let the liberals devour their own. We know the truth, and Obama is NO friend of the Constitution. Not any part of it.
Excellent video Randy12! Thanks for sharing. I will pass it onto my liberal gun toting father!
Where I come from, sexy guys wore buckaroo 6" brims. And wildrags.
The Reporter that wrote this piece has his head where the sun doesn't shine. Obama is not in favor of Americans bearing arms. Montana has separated itself from the federal government over the second amendment. Obama has imposed or is trying to impose a $50. fee to be paid with income tax every year on each and every gun we own . Obama has passed a law selling all our used brass to china. That is why there were ammo shortages even for the police just last year. He is destroying our right to bear arms one bill after another so don't try to tell me now that Obama has came full circle and is now in favor of Americans owning guns. When pigs fly, i'll believe that. The reporter of this piece would do well to do a little research before he writes articles on this website. I believe in Andrew Brithbart and I know he tries to give us the truth but this article is downright false and doesn't state the obvious about the Obama agenda.
Bye, Bayh !
Suspicious? Yes, me too. What purpose does Drew serve at this time? I'm leery as well.
I thank God for the election of Scott Brown, it pretty much takes care of Congress being able to sneak a UN Treaty through the backdoor. Tic…tic…tic…still counting the days!
Caption for Obama in the cowboy hat: Do I look as ridiculous in this as I think I do?
He's a snake in the grass when he's not being a snake oil salesman…which is less and less these days as no one's buying.
They are waiting for just the right "crisis" to justify a gun grab. An economic crash might just fit the bill. The press can scream about how people are defending their property from looters instead of letting the government do it for them. It's how progressives work.
Obama was Gun Salesman of the Year in 2009. He single-handedly caused the sale of more guns and ammo than any single person in American history.
Everyone on your toes. Breaking news out of Richmond, CA about a gunman who opened fire inside a church and shot 2 teenagers. The Progressives will be blowing a gasket within the hour.
HERE, HERE…….MEH
"So, his inaction is easier to attribute to his inability to take on the left-wing gun cause rather than his reticence to do so."
Absolute political suicide at this point in time. And the last thing this fraud needs is the final nail in his political coffin. As mentioned above, as soon as he can get DC v Heller reversed, he'll move on gun control. Anything other than that is lip service and window dressing.
it won't work….the empty suit is now without any clothes….
We knew he was a Marxist before hand.
Only the gooberheads that didn't want to know didn't know.
We can only hope that now they have some foggy idea of what a Marxist is and that he is one.
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports a ten percent drop in murders during the first six months of 2009, while at a time US gun sales are going through the roof, according to reports obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Meanwhile, gun sales to private citizens soared almost 30 percent during that same period."
– Examiner.com -
excellent piece by the NRA…
The UN so-called 'small arms treaty' is on the road to ratification. Make no mistake; Hillary was hugely in support of this' as is barry and his minions.
Remember this: These people LIE. Judge them not on their words, but their deeds. And be vigilant. It is our belief that the treaty will NOT be ratified; it will be political suicide for any so-called 'moderate' (read that PROGRESSIVE politician- eithe party), and in this climate the fact that they are essentially cowards more interested in self preservation than ideology will help.
But it's not a 'done deal' by any measure…
mr. chapman further reported: that pigs fly………………no really !!
His campaign re-hire must be orchestrating this juke right. This is a centrist decoy ploy. Don't buy it.
The definition of 'moderate' or 'reasonable' gun laws is ANYTHING they can pass.They want to keep the ball moving down the field. The 'goal' ,of course, is a total ban on guns. No, that's not true. The well connected , the "more equal than others", will have guns. Feinstein got a conceal carry permit in San Francisco when it was impossible for a citizen to get one.
Tic….tic….tic….
http://obamaclock.org/
Randy12 shared this with me recently, now you to can check the clock!
I think Obama is trying a weak attempt to reclaim the independent voters. He's trying to move enough to the center to get the votes but not too far so he doesn't lose his left-wing base. But whatever he does he's not going to win, he has officially backed himself up into a corner and now he's thrashing in any direction to get the hell out. Just like a politician.
Obama's biggest flaw is that he's a popularity whore, and he will say anything to keep himself the most popular thing in the room. Well fortunately for us that only works for a small amount of time on the American people.
Go To http://www.gunbanbama.com if you really believe this stupid article. It will tell you the truth. The truth will set you free.
They will go after our guns when they are ready. Dudley Brown: contact@nationalgunrights.org
Why would the left want to get rid of our guns?
Listen to the words of Admiral Isoroku Yamanoto (WWII) which are relevant today.
"You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass"
that is their fallback option; good luck with that as they say in the 'burbs…
Settled law, is usually what the refrain goes. The Supremes are loathe to rescind that which THEY settled.
Still, the dissent was strong and the minority four hated the decision. Anything is possible…
should be Yamamoto sorry
Very interesting facts the left will never acknowledge. If they go after our guns, there will be a civil war. "From my cold dead hands"….. I wonder are they really that stupid? I do think O still has it on his list of things to do….it isn't going to happen though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0B_UZNtEk4
Priceless.
It's a farce. He will say it wasn't him that is anti-gun even though he is behind all anti-gun appointments.
Just look at his voting history in the Illinois Senate and you'll see where he stands on guns. Supposedly he supports the second ammendment but on the other hand he supports their being banned by state and local municipalities. His is a on size fits all view that borders on political expediency. He says one thing but believes and means something totally different.
It's called playing to the crowd. You tell them what they want to hear, get them all fired up then go about your business of breaking every promise you made them…business as usual.
You got it baby…mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore!
Charlton Heston was so vilified by the progressives, proving what a great American he was.
God rest his soul! What he would be doing if he were alive and well today! My mind can only imagine.
another one they over-use is 'comprehensive', chills me to my spine.
I couldn't access the video, but yours is the best metaphor for O.
To all:
Please keep your eye on the ball
Focus, focus, focus
Ask yourself, what were the main topics before this article?
We must have have been stumbling dangerously close to something really big, for this smokescreen to
have been released.
GoTo gunbanobama.com for the truth on this article and Obama on the second amendment.
One of my favorite quotes, the U.S. was never at worry over an invasion of the mainland, the Japanese knew it and never intended to try it.
Liberty Valance
Please take Dick Cheney's gun away from him while he's hunting, Mr Man-in-the-Black Hat.
Typical knee-jerk mention of the NRA – which stands for "Negotiating Rights Away." NRA's record of SUPPORTING gun control has been known for DECADES. The NRA is like McCain is to conservatives. The NRA supports gun control and the overt gun control advocates say "see, even the NRA supports it."
The old saw about watching what I do, not what I say, is applicable here.
Tell me how the Senate gets a 2/3 vote to pass the vote on this treaty? There aren't 34 NRA Senators in the chamber? And those NRA Democrat Senators, what way will they vote?
I do not think it will happen, it is more magician's distraction while they srew us elswhere. IMHO
Is no one asking why a metrosexual city boy is wearing a cowboy hat? Looks like a cartoon.
The liberals and the conservatives love to ignore your rights. The conservatives pawn it off as protection through one of the worst monopolies created, police departments for your safety of course. YOU THINK YOU HAVE GUN RIGHTS, BULL EFFIN SHAT. This shows the police state at work, all you effin police that post on this site, you are the worst offenders of liberty.
NRA THE UNTOLD STORY OF GUN CONFISCATION AFTER KATRINA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taU9d26wT4
Gun control: good sight picture, use both hands, windage and elevation, exhale slowly, squeeze.
I have been telling some friends since about November that we need to keep watching, but that BHO just isn't going to be able to do anything major against guns. Appointees aside, he is effectively handcuffed on the issue. Hopefully more people figure this out and the marketplace gets back to normal. $35-40 for a box of .44mag? Nuts. Gun control suffers when practice becomes too expensive.
He was trying out for a role whith "The Village People".
He reallyyyy wanted to be the cowboy………….
YOU DON'T HAVE GUN RIGHTS, HERE IS THE U.S. MILITARY DISARMING THE PUBLIC, ENTERING HOUSES UNLAWFULLY WITH GUNS DRAWN
And the military sheeple follow their orders like good little soldiers blindly, guns drawn against U.S. citizens
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sm5PC7z79-8&NR=1
agreed…
As said, we don't think the senate ratifies this. But you are correct- the assaults will come from every direction. Agenda 21 gives the UN, and the WHO control over the world's 'health' supposedly.
Guess what? Guns are bad for your health. And Codex Alimentarius and Agenda 21 are ratified, and awaiting- you guessed it- 'health care reform' (government run healthcare) to be able to put into effect.
And Draconian effect too, friends…
Buy guns and ammo now.
Are you motivated private. Sir yes Sir. Then go ramsack some houses and take the peoples guns. Sir yes Sir.
[...] (Cross posted at BigGovernment.com) [...]
Are you motivated private? sir yes sir.
sir yes sir.
[...] (Cross posted at BigGovernment.com) [...]
I've been curious about his delay as well. Well, he can't publically come out against guns right now. The African American community is heavily armed, and they are his main block. Also, if he would have broached the unpopular subject early on, without a friendly court, Americans would have went batsh_t on him. So he waits, surreptitiously slipping anti-gun regulatory powers into the health bill, into "school safety" bills. Getting Napolitano to demonize gun owners as "terrorists…" Then when he appoints Hillary to the Big Bench and gets his majority there, he'll move fast and dream big–a reversal of all current court rulings and rapid overtaxes and open confiscation. Don't trust him for a minute.
Obama's anti gun designs lost right out of the gate. He and his AG were on the wrong side of history when the Heller decision came down and he has been rattled about it ever since. Come march, the McDonald case will be heard and Incorporation will take place.
The gun control folks have lost – and Obama knows it. So, under the bus they go- Obama style.
Obama knows that supporting gun control advocates these days is a lost cause. He may be a Marxist, but he is not totally incapable of reading the writing on the wall.
"President Obama is for our rights and only supports modest gun control measures." ?
So, does he plan on pushing for the repeal of about 98% of the present gun control laws to get it /back/ to "modest"?
Every one needs to read this from Fox News today than you will know that this president is not pro gun.
Sotomayor on Gun Control Could Prompt Conservative Backlash – US Supreme Court | Cases | Justices – FOXNews.com
Source: foxnews.com
(shrug).
They had control of the press and all they heard from the press they read was what they wanted to believe, and they started believing it.
A bit like right after 9-11; they had been ridiculing patriotism for years, then the silent majority sat up and roared, and the leftards reeled back in shock. They forgot that silence is not consent, and had no idea that we had simply gotten tired of listening to spittle spraying fanatics so we just let them go their own way without changing our minds.
1994 was a smack up alongside the head re gun control, but they almost convenced themselves that guns played no role in '94 by the time 2000 rolled around, and they nearly started in again. Watch, they have not really learned anything.
I was going to say "donned", but then realized it may well be the first light he has seen for a while, so it may be "dawn" in a way.
Never relax. Never drop your guard.
They /will/ get gun control passed if at all possible.
Watch all bills, especially the ones they try to push through without giving anyone time to read them, watch the amendments added. Read the bills as they are published.
Something. Anything.
uh . . . I'm embarrassed.
Here is the real deal. After gun rights are restored in June, there will actually be a concrete penalty for government violating the right to keep and bear arms.
Violations of civil rights are an offense that costs a pretty penny. Either governing bodies will relent or they will pay dearly.
I predict they will relent.
(heheheh)
Oh, please. This clown has more tongues than Medusa has snakes on her head. He offers nothing; he is the answer to nothing–Obama and his administration are the measure of what this country has become.
That these libertine liberals are now losing ground is simply answered prayers–the good God is taking pity on us and giving us yet another chance to clean up our mess. Let's not screw up again.
He wants the guns in the hands of his people and his army.
Right on! A bit of nudging here and nudging there! They are going to get their a$$ kicked in November…..and in 2012.
Obama: The Remaking of a President
(especially after he saw his poll numbers showing sinking)
check his state and senate voting record. black bart LIES once aaggaaiinn.
I almost hesitated in posting that, glad I am not the only one. Watch the other hand!
Words of wisdom Dau. of Patton's 3rd! I hear tell from my daughter's there is a lot of regret in their College peers choice for President. Maybe they are smarter than we think!
Obama pro-gun? Does anyone remember:
he [Obama] remains strangely silent about his eight years (1994-2002) as a director of the Joyce Foundation, a billion dollar tax-exempt organization. He has one obvious reason: during his time as director, Joyce Foundation spent millions creating and supporting anti-gun organizations
It's all in the record – the one the MSM can't find, and wouldn't read if it could.
Can't believe he dawned that hat. He's not worthy.
I think I'm speaking for most of us here in saying that I'm sick to death of supporting this empty suit. Will he EVER stop campaigning and start working?
What? We're supposed to believe he's a cowboy? Who is he trying to be now, the Pope?
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