Among the prescriptions Obama put forward that day, according to a Dec. 13, 1999 Chicago Defender article, were increasing penalties for the interstate transportation of firearms, increasing the federal tax on the sale of firearms, requiring federally licensed gun dealers to sell firearms in their storefront, restricting gun purchases to one a month, increasing school funding for anger management programs, banning the sale of firearms at gun shows except for “antiques,” and increasing licensing fees…
For all the talk of unassailable logic of certain gun policies, however, the Obama presidency has seen virtually no corresponding legislative action. Part of that was because of a jam-packed legislative plate.
“He has been supportive of national policy until he took office,” said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “I don’t know how much it is the influence of the gun lobby directly, as it is the kind of political calculus. He had an agenda and this was not at the top of his agenda. He needed to create coalitions of support for things like health care and he didn’t want to risk fragmenting that support in any way.”
But as national incidents of gun violence flared with no major responses, groans have grown louder. Following the shooting of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Obama’s former press secretary, Robert Gibbs, stated that the administration continued to support the assault weapons ban. A White House spokesman on Monday confirmed to The Huffington Post that the ban remained the president’s position after the shooting last Friday in Aurora. A request for comment from Obama campaign was not returned.
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