# So what will the administration propose about guns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 16, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148 "2012-12-16T01:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/21 "2012-12-16T05:46:24Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > All President Obama’s comment about “meaningful action” will result in is another surge in gun and ammo sales. He is the best damn gun salesman this country has ever had. If the reports I’ve read from gun shop owners on a couple of gun forums can be believed, it’s already starting. They’re having record sales this weekend. Of course, it could just be Christmas shopping, but I somehow doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/22 "2012-12-16T05:52:30Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Which just demonstrates the gullibility of many on the right. It’s not gullibility, but rather “better safe than sorry.” Firearms and ammunition don’t spoil, so stockpiling (particularly ammo) doesn’t have any serious drawbacks. And those doing the stockpiling aren’t just on the political right. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/23 "2012-12-16T05:58:00Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > It’s not gullibility, but rather “better safe than sorry.” No, it’s definitely gullibility. They’ve been fed nonsense about how Obama is going to “steal their guns” and they buy it completely just like they buy every other right wing lie Fox and so forth feeds them. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/24 "2012-12-16T06:50:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No, it’s definitely gullibility. They’ve been fed nonsense about how Obama is going to “steal their guns” and they buy it completely just like they buy every other right wing lie Fox and so forth feeds them. :rolleyes: But of course you offer the completely unbiased and unvarnished truth, for yea verily Der Trihs knows the one true way. And I’m still waiting on that cite. Or a retraction. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/25 "2012-12-16T08:54:16Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > It’s not gullibility, but rather “better safe than sorry.” Firearms and ammunition don’t spoil, so stockpiling (particularly ammo) doesn’t have any serious drawbacks. > > And those doing the stockpiling aren’t just on the political right. I agree they aren’t just right. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/26 "2012-12-16T12:40:55Z")
I vote nothing. The Dems don’t have the votes to even get a new AWB passed, let alone anything stronger. And by doing so, they will have awakened the NRA which has been kept at bay in the past 6 years because they have nothing to fight against. They have won on all fronts. For Obama to start a serious push for more gun control measures would not only cause GOP coffers to start filling, these measures wouldn’t pass anyways. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/27 "2012-12-16T14:29:42Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I vote nothing. The Dems don’t have the votes to even get a new AWB passed, let alone anything stronger. And by doing so, they will have awakened the NRA which has been kept at bay in the past 6 years because they have nothing to fight against. They have won on all fronts. > > For Obama to start a serious push for more gun control measures would not only cause GOP coffers to start filling, these measures wouldn’t pass anyways. This. The truth is that there really isn’t much Obama can do right now. Even if he were to propose some radical measure, it’d get shot down in the GOP-controlled House. And if the Republicans were even inclined to let such a measure reach the floor for a vote, it’d be only to give themselves fodder for the next election - so they can run campaign ads about how so-and-so who voted for the measure is an enemy of responsible law abiding gun owners. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/28 "2012-12-16T15:00:50Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No, it’s definitely gullibility. They’ve been fed nonsense about how Obama is going to “steal their guns” and they buy it completely just like they buy every other right wing lie Fox and so forth feeds them. Is it gullibility that people (like- well, you for instance) are screaming that the availability of guns is what made this massacre possible, and that “enough is enough”? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/29 "2012-12-16T15:03:36Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Is it gullibility that people (like- well, you for instance) are screaming that the availability of guns is what made this massacre possible, and that “enough is enough”? That’s a silly comparison. Are there lots of guns? Yes. Are people killed by them in large numbers? Yes. Has Obama confiscated large numbers of guns? No. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/30 "2012-12-16T15:07:32Z")
Nothing until after the mid term elections at a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/31 "2012-12-16T15:47:28Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > Nothing until after the mid term elections at a minimum. And I hope nothing after that, either. I don’t want to see a Republican president elected in 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/32 "2012-12-16T16:48:27Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > All President Obama’s comment about “meaningful action” will result in is another surge in gun and ammo sales. He is the best damn gun salesman this country has ever had. > > And after reading most of the irrational and ignorant gun control responses on this board today, this law abiding gun owner, and hunter, after 40 years of responsible gun ownership and use, I finally joined the NRA today. Never felt the need to before. > > Because we can’t talk about the mentally sick fucker who killed a bunch of first graders without attacking responsible gun owners. > > Couldn’t be his autism/ADHD/over or under medication with mind altering prescription drugs, or anything else, could it? > > Nope, it must be me, I’m the problem. > > Obama will give lip-service to the issue, attend some of the funerals and use the podium as yet another campain stop. And then it will be on to the next thing. You’re taking this way too personally. Nobody attacked you. If you’re a responsible gun owner as you say, a debate on gun control doesn’t besmirch your character any more than speed limits reflect on your personal driving habits, so let’s drop the persecution act. Twenty children just got shot to death and you’re whining about being attacked. You poor, suffering soul. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/33 "2012-12-16T17:48:01Z")
My prediction is the old assault weapons ban, which is truly sad. The assault weapons ban mostly banned “scary” weapons and had no impact on crime or anything at all, really. What I’d instead like to see is Obama start us down the path to a **licensing scheme** like you see in Germany or the Nordic countries, where you can mostly buy all of the same guns as you can here in America but the _individual gun owner_ has to go through bureaucracy and licensing and approvals. I think even small steps in that direction are the way to go, because I think it will reduce total gun ownership. I view that as good, I don’t want people owning guns who do not take the responsibility seriously, since there is no licensing system outside of a select number of states too many people who aren’t really interested in properly owning firearms can buy a few here and there just because. It’ll take a long time to get a licensing system in place, it’d have to happen incrementally. But where it could lead is a world where only serious gun owners will bother with owning guns, which helps to make guns ever less available to people that shouldn’t have them. With the large amount of guns present in America, it certainly won’t make it that hard for criminals to keep getting guns, not at first. But over time, it would. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/34 "2012-12-16T18:38:10Z")
I vote for nothing from Obama. He is really stingy with political capital, and frankly kinda dumb about seeing which way the tide is going. Right now, polling indicates that Americans are moving left at a very rapid rate. Witness gay marriage and pot legalization. But Obama does not see it. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/35 "2012-12-16T18:51:09Z")
It’s a funny situation, like most of American politics. Like abortion, the fiscal situation, and other major issues there’s really nothing that enough of the public WANTS done badly enough to get it done. If you look at recent polling on this issue if the questions is something like “Should gun laws be more restrictive” the numbers come up resoundingly NO. But if you put out specific proposals several of them achieve a majority YES. It’s a similar trend to the healthcare law. Overall, when phrased vaguely, people are against it, but many of the specifics they’re for. That’s a recipe for political paralysis. Remember, only about one politician in 1,000 is a leader. The rest are followers. They follow the past of least resistance to their own reelection. For me? While I see that Feinstein is going to reintroduce the AWB (and may have done so, at this time) it’s a meaningless bit of fluff designed to earn some points and accomplish nothing. I’d try something like this: 1. Open access to firearms, that is, an American citizen has a positive right to possess weapons (even as a lefty I’ve always thought the 2nd Amendment was clear) 2. A citizen may lose the right to own firearms if A) they are convicted of a felony - one can lose the right to vote this way and, frankly, that’s a far more important right than gun ownership B) a gun they have legally purchased is later used in a crime without it having been reported stolen - the owner is responsible for the maintenance and control of his or her weapon. The loss, without reporting, of a weapon becomes close to a tacit admission of irresponsibility C) an owner reports an inordinate amount of stolen weapons - just to prevent an owner from becoming and ‘informal’ weapons distributor D) they are judged by a court to be incompetent - I’d be astonished if anyone argued with this one…but someone probably would. 3. Eliminate concealed carry. Approve open carry. You have a right to possess a weapon. Others have the right to know you have it. 4. Any use of a weapon unlawfully leads to the forfeiture of the right to possess a weapon for life I’m a registration guy. I believe that weapons should be available, but tracked. I know some people will object to that, but I believe that’s just the politicization of the issue coming out. Knowing that firearm X, serial number Y, is owned by person Z is a helpful thing. But I know for a fact that there are guns sold, and not on the secondary market, that are not registered. Still, good luck to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/36 "2012-12-16T19:20:48Z")
I’d love to see a registration and licensing scheme, perhaps with mandatory psych evaluations, but it’s much more likely we’ll see a re-heated AWB and a lot of gnashing of teeth. Or, perhaps more likely still, nothing at all. There really is not quick and easy solution here, nor even just one problem to attack. Hell, I’ve heard just as many people claim this shooting makes them more eager to own a gun (for protection from crazy people) than less eager to have one. Like a previous poster said, we’re still a good 100 dead children away from any significant call to change our laws, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/37 "2012-12-16T21:24:01Z")
Feinstein [jumps the gun](http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-feinstein-gun-control-bill-newtown-20121216,0,2429438.story): > [@](#): > > “It [the bill] will ban the sale, the transfer, the transportation and the possession,” the California senator said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Not retroactively, but prospectively. And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets.” > > Feinstein said the purpose of her proposal, a version of the assault-weapons ban that expired in 2004, is to get “weapons of war off the streets of our cities.” Yeah, that’s gonna work. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/38 "2012-12-17T00:01:47Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Feinstein [jumps the gun](http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-feinstein-gun-control-bill-newtown-20121216,0,2429438.story): > > Yeah, that’s gonna work. Don’t her and Schumer introduce this bill EVERY year anyways? No way will Obama/Reid allow it to be brought to the Senate floor. If they do, it won’t have 60 votes to survive a filibuster. If it does, Boehner won’t allow it to be brought to the House floor. If he does, there won’t be enough votes. But do any of this and the NRA will have to hire new staff to count all of the money flowing in… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/39 "2012-12-17T00:14:15Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I vote for nothing from Obama. He is really stingy with political capital, and frankly kinda dumb about seeing which way the tide is going. Right now, polling indicates that Americans are moving left at a very rapid rate. Witness gay marriage and pot legalization. But Obama does not see it. Is that a rapid move to the left, or to liberty? I could see _“own all the guns you want”_ as being like _“marry who you want”_ and _“smoke what you want”_. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148/40 "2012-12-17T00:19:31Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Is that a rapid move to the left, or to liberty? I could see _“own all the guns you want”_ as being like _“marry who you want”_ and _“smoke what you want”_. Are you saying _“own all the guns you want”_ and _“marry who you want”_ are in the same camp? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-will-the-administration-propose-about-guns/644148.md?page=3)