Gun Control & RKBA
Related: About this forumObama was SMART not to bring gun control into this election!
The NRA (all right wing nuts I agree) had very little to attack the president on.
And if Obama would have made gun control an issue in this election it would have cost us votes and excited a set of GOP voters and still not change gun deaths in this country!
Smart move by Obama!
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)It was never discussed once -- not one word -- during the campaign. Shame on those debate moderators for not bringing it up. If not for Hurricane Sandy, nothing would happen. But now, IMHO, there is a good chance that it will at least be discussed openly. I don't expect the reddest states to ever get it. But as we saw, Florida, NC, and VA are definitely winnable -- and really essential to both parties. These are all states that should get it because they experience this first hand. And of course NY and NJ are in the game now.
in a speech sometime in the summer he did mention that he would push for an assault weapons ban, which made me clutch my sks a little tighter.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)you could call it politically calculating.
And if he were to bring it up despite the risks, you could call it "courageous", not "dumb". Arguably that was the case with abortion and gay marriage, both of which dems normally shy away from but which Obama embraced.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Is too much to lose in the Demo "base."
He had nothing to gain (and some to lose) by dragging out gun bans.
Obama was also smart to support gay marriage, I did not expect such a full-throated move. And it worked.
hack89
(39,171 posts)he had no choice but to address them.
That is not the case with gun control.
Atypical Liberal
(5,412 posts)Unlike the 2010 election, where most of my Democratic candidates had NRA rankings, and all of them except one had high marks, this year only one of my Democratic candidates was even listed by the NRA, and that candidate refused to answer the NRA-PVF survey, resulting in a "?" grade.
I researched all of my Democratic candidates through Google and their web sites, and none of them mentioned firearms at all.
Sadly, no Democratic candidates won their elections here. Our one Democratic incumbent lost her seat. I don't think we have any Democrats in office now in Alabama.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)Voters just can't handle rational intelligent conversation about those issues during a presidential election year, especially with the political ad onslaught Citizen's United has created. The NRA just has too much power and is so effective in energizing their particular group of nut cases.
And as depressing as it is, the Republicans have been extremely effective in mystifying climate science over the years, especially during the Bush admin. These are two areas that the Democratic party has really failed to gain ground on.
Add climate change to the list of things that were avoided for practical reasons, though it's a bit depressing to think that its such a controversial and decisive issue.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)Or did you forget that? On October 16, at the debate:
At the end of a long answer to the question, What has your administration done or planned to do to limit the availability of assault weapons? Obama said this:
My belief is that, (A), we have to enforce the laws weve already got, make sure that were keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. Weve done a much better job in terms of background checks, but weve got more to do when it comes to enforcement.
But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters dont belong on our streets. And so what Im trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, theres an awful lot of violence and theyre not using AK-47s. Theyre using cheap hand guns.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/obama-calls-for-renewal-of-assault-weapons-ban/
Logical
(22,457 posts)Simo 1939_1940
(768 posts)2A is so wobbly?!
Logical
(22,457 posts)Simo 1939_1940
(768 posts)there is no functional difference between an "assault weapon" and an "acceptable" semi-automatic rifle.
derby378
(30,252 posts)I'd rather someone asked him about global warming instead. Rising sea levels destroy more communities than my AK ever will.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts).