Do you think Obama still plans to ban "Assault Weapons"?

[Tim01]

Obviously he supports an assault weapons ban, he said so recently, in addition to his history of anti-gun votes and quotes. Along with Clinton, Kerry, Holder, and I can't remember who else is on the list.

But I think this has become too hot now. Especially with Ruger jumping in the game now with their new AR style rifle.

I think the pro-2nd amendment movement is still gaining momentum. Probably as a result of the continued panic buying, and people arming themselves as a result of the bad economy.

It almost seems to me we have passed the point of saying an AWB is a bad idea politically, and it is more like political plutonium.

[Xenotime]

1. Yes. Tuesday massacre should be a reminder that they need to banned.

[X_Digger]

7. WTAE & WPIX are reporting handguns

We don't know for sure, yet, but why do you assume an 'assault weapon' was used?

[TheWraith]

19. No "assault weapons" were used on Tuesday.

And you know the Assault Weapons Ban doesn't actually ban "assault weapons," right? It bans cosmetic "scary looking" features like bayonet mounts and flash suppressors.

[jody]

2. Yes but if he signed an AWB bill now it would seriously damage his chance for reelection. n/t

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. He has to wait until after the mid term elections lest his supporters take serious hits at the polls

[jeepnstein]

22. That assumes...

President Obama wants to screw over his party after he becomes a lame duck. A solid politician doesn't leave his party hanging with a toxic issue like that when he leaves office.

[Tim01]

23. But isn't that what Clinton did?

Or was that before it became the 3rd rail it is now?

[BluePup]

3. Ruger has a new AR?.... COOL!

Personally, I didn't care about the things until the .gov wanted to ban them.

During these last panic buying months, I have been selling ammo. 3000 rounds of .223 at .50 cents a round. I sold all my 'black evil' guns.... now the price has dropped back down to earth.

I expect gun and ammo sales to continue to be up a bit past Christmas. The hunting crowd has yet to realize that there is a severe ammo shortage, which is just now starting to let up. If every hunter bought 1 extra box of ammo, it would push the ending of the 'panic' out for another year.

Politically.... yes I agree. Politicians stay away.... danger!.... warning!

[fascisthunter]

4. hopefully he will

[Tim01]

15. Glad to see I'm not just paranoid. So much for me being hopefu.l nt

[slackmaster]

5. I believe he would sign just about any kind of gun ban bill Congress sent him

But they're not going to do that.

[Statistical]

6. Yes and No.

I think Obama knows guns are the third rail and he has other useful things to solve.

Economic crisis, healthcare, iran, north korea, ending 2 wars, skyrocketing naitonal debt, etc.

However if tomorrow Obama had a AWB2 bill on his desk delivered by a majority of Democrats does ANYONE think he would veto it?
Slap his own party in the face and make passing legislation he wants more difficult?

Of course he would sign it.

However I think Obama perfect world would be the status quo. AWB never gets out of committee and he can give lip service to it while at the same time hoping that time bomb never gets to his desk where it is a lose-lose situation.

So IMHO the real question is can the anti-gun right nuts (for both parties but sadly more Democrats than Republicans) force the AWB thorugh Congress. Obama will sign it so it becoming law depends on Congress.

[Euromutt]

16. I'll go along with that assessment

I'm sure that, given the opportunity, Obama would not hesitate to sign a renewed AWB into law, if Congress passed it. But I'm sure he remembers the 1994 mid-terms, so he's not going to put pressure on Congress to pass one; that way, if the Congressional Dems took a pasting as a result, it would be nobody's fault but their own.

[Hangingon]

8. .Yes

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. Yawn....

[rrneck]

10. He might if it made it to his desk. nt

[benEzra]

12. No, the "assault weapon" fraud is dead, I think well beyond resurrection.

Rifles with modern styling are now far and away the most popular rifles in America, such that the prohibitionists would affect fewer gun owners trying to outlaw hunting. And that, coupled with the relative rarity of rifle misuse, makes the whole bait-and-switch a dead letter.

[spin]

13. Not until his second term. (n/t)

[krispos42]

14. Probably

The healthcare battle is up in the air. The Blue Dogs are being fucking idiots and destroying the reform towards a USP program that we need.

There is a decent chance that sweeping reform will die and we'll get some kind of minor adjustment for the next decade.

If this happens, Democratic party bigwigs might well try for a new AWB so they can point to a legislative "success" for the 2010 or 2012 elections.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

17. I believe he would sign it but he'll never get the chance, congress would never send him a bill.

[TPaine7]

18. Only if 1) he can manage to pull it off and b) the political cost is acceptable.

The political cost will probably be enough to stop him in his first term; the will of the American people will have to stop him in his second term.

I think he's plenty smart enough to see reality as it is--he did sign the Concealed Carry in National Parks law--so any plans he has to ban "assault weapons" are contingent. He'll do what he can to oppose RKBA; he's a true believer in anti-gun doctrine who doesn't trust Americans with their rights.

[TheWraith]

20. Won't happen. There isn't a majority in Congress for it.

And I don't think Obama would want to pursue it anyway. He's not dumb enough to grab a third rail, particularly not while he's still working on basic stuff.

[JonQ]

21. Are "gun nuts" still paranoid that people are out to take their guns

when a great many people have stated that they desire exactly that, including the president and the attorney general he has appointed? Both fans of the AWB.