The White House and gun control activists are gearing up for a
whirlwind month, with plans to pass reform legislation by exploiting the emotions of the Sandy Hook massacre before they fade.
While the fiscal cliff has dominated headlines in recent weeks, Democrat lawmakers and activists have been laying the groundwork for their big push this month. Vice President Joe Biden, tasked with heading a commission to limit or end second amendment rights, has been quietly meeting with various left-wing groups and is expected to release a set of recommendations within weeks. Boston's Democrat mayor Thomas Menino, co-chair of Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, told the Boston Herald this week that an optimistic Biden had assured him that Obama would sign legislation “by the end of January.”
House Democrats are moving ahead with their own plans as well. On Friday, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), chair of the newly created Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, announced the appointment of 12 vice chairs, including Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), the body’s leading voice on gun control.
Obama has personally identified an assault weapons ban and limits on ammunition magazine size as top priorities. Other possible "reforms" could include background check requirements for purchases at gun shows, a loophole that’s helped create a huge market of off-record arms purchases.
Violent crime survivors are also planning trips to emotionally lobby lawmakers to support legislation. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who survived a shooting in 2011, will play a prominent role in that regard: on Wednesday she met with Bloomberg in New York and on Friday traveled to Newtown for a photo op using families who lost loved ones eye candy for the mainstream media. ...More HERE
