President Obama's unilateral White House action on
gun control is a good start. But Obama took the action precisely because he
knows that gun control legislation is a virtual dead letter in Congress at
least for the time being. To force the issue, Obama would have to spend
precious time, energy, and resources jawboning anti-gun control congressional
Democrats, wage an all-out battle with the gun lobby, and the NRA, and risk
losing the political momentum that he has and needs to do battle with GOP
congressional obstructionists on the coming fight over the debt ceiling,
spending cuts, and deficit reduction.
The reported checklist of executive orders he's
proposed include strengthening federal laws against illegal gun trafficking,
better coordination and tracking by federal agencies of gun sales, banning the
import of military style weapons, better record keeping on guns sales and
buyers, stronger background checks on gun buyers. But none directly strike to
the heart of how to stop an Adam Lanza, James Holmes, or Jared Loughner, and
the handful of other crackpot shooters from getting guns.
That's Congress's job. The few congressional leaders
that have cheer led the president for taking action on guns and have pushed for
more stringent gun control flatly said that Congress will not budge on gun
control. That includes re imposing the ban on assault weapons. Polls show that the
majority of Americans support the ban. But polls have carried zero weight with
Congress in the past and there's no evidence that they do this time around
either.
In the decade since the expiration of the assault
weapons ban, Congress has had ample chance to enact a slew of gun control curbs
that would have compelled legal gun owners to store guns in a tamper proof safe
and secure enclosure, bar anyone undergoing or referred to treatment for mental
or emotional disorders from purchasing or having direct access to guns, and
clamping an absolute ban on the sale of assault weapons. These provisions might,
just might, have kept the guns out of the hands of Lanza. These and other
measures were repeatedly introduced in Congress and just as repeatedly buried
before they ever reached the House or Senate floor.
Obama's proposed executive orders touch on many of
the measures that the dogged handful of Congressional gun control proponents has
pushed for in the past. But they don't have anywhere near the wallop that
Congressional gun control laws would pack.
The NRA is well aware of that. It will bluff and bluster against the proposed
executive orders, and Obama, and loudly pander to ultra-conservatives that
scream for massive resistance to alleged "federal intrusion" on gun owner's
rights.
The NRA, however, knows the name of the game on gun
control is Congress, and to a lesser but important extent, the courts. It has
plowed millions into a well-financed, well-honed machine to lobby, harangue,
threaten, and intimidate gun control advocates in Congress, and to try and
defeat pro-gun control candidates. It has played watchdog over judicial
appointments and moved quick to torpedo the confirmation of any judicial
appointee who gives even the vaguest hint that he or she would be likely to
issue a ruling upholding a gun curb. This has paid dividends. Time and again, state,
and federal appeals courts and the Supreme Court have overturned city and state
gun control laws.
There's also the threat that t he courts as well as Congress could swing into action on
Obama's executive orders .Congress has the power to change (in this case scrap)
an executive order. The courts have the power to declare them unconstitutional or simply vacate the
orders. The gun lobby almost certainly would try to arm twist one or the other
to go after the orders
Still,
Obama's proposal to issue executive orders thrusts him squarely in the center
of the gun control battle. This amounts to a frontal challenge to Congress to
seriously debate the need for gun control legislation. The debate will force
the NRA and its congressional allies to tell why they adamantly oppose the ban
of assault weapons, universal back ground checks, and provisions to insure that
guns are kept out of the hands of those with mental and emotional challenges. It
would force gun control opponents to tell how these protective measures
infringe on the right of law abiding citizens to own and use guns for
protection and sporting purposes.
The NRA has had free rein to make its case that even
the weakest, most tepid, common sense gun curb would be tantamount to repealing
the Second Amendment. It will scream the same again if Obama signs the proposed
executive orders. But if he does they would not be the cure all for unchecked
gun violence, only Congress has the power to provide that cure, but the orders
would be a good first step.
Earl
Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is a weekly co-host of
the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the author of How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and
Challenge. He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is the host
of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK-Radio and the Pacifica Network.
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Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson