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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZOX7so3fko&feature=relmfu]BBC vs Anti-Gun Control Advocate John Lott - YouTube[/ame]
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Proposals include universal background checks as well as bans on assault weapons and ammunition clips that hold more than 10 bullets. Some of his proposals are sure to run headlong into fierce opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress, as well as the powerful National Rifle Association lobby. "I will put everything Ive got into this, Obama, standing alongside Vice President Joe Biden, promised an audience that included relatives of the first-graders slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, survivors of other mass shootings and elected officials. "While there is no law, or set of laws, that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if theres even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if theres even one life that can be saved, then weve got an obligation to try," Obama said in his speech. "And Im going to do my part."
The president declared himself a firm believer in the Second Amendment and denounced those who will cast his "common-sense" approach as "a tyrannical, all-out assault on liberty." He also warned those inclined to support his strategy that passage "will be difficult." This will not happen unless the American people demand it. If parents and teachers, police officers and pastors, if hunters and sportsmen, if responsible gun owners, if Americans of every background stand up and say, Enough, weve suffered too much pain and care too much about our children to allow this to continue,' then change will come," he said. "Thats what its going to take." Bowing to political reality, Obamas proposals include a wave of 23 executive actions that circumvent Congress, where most Republicans and a few Democrats have balked at sweeping new restrictions they say could trample constitutional gun rights. The potent NRA has also pledged to defeat new gun control measures.
The executive actions include requiring federal agencies to report more information to the federal background check system and directing the Centers for Disease Control to research gun violence. But Obama acknowledged that his more ambitious proposals would have to clear Congress. Biden, in his introductory remarks, said, "I have no illusions about what we're up against." But "the world has changed, and it's demanding action." Administration officials who previewed Obama's proposals on a conference call with reporters fleshed out some important details (on condition that they not be named)and left some important questions unanswered:
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Obama spokesman Jay Carney says most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as "pawns in a political fight." Carney was referring to an online video from the pro-gun lobby that calls Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for having armed Secret Service agents protect his daughters at school while voicing skepticism about installing armed guards in all schools.
The NRA released the video ahead of Obama's announcement Wednesday of proposals for curbing the nation's gun violence. The president is calling on Congress to enact universal background checks and ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines all measures the NRA opposes.
The gun lobby has instead called for armed guards in schools. In a nod to calls for more school security, Obama said Wednesday that his administration would provide incentives for schools to hire more police officers as part of his overall package of anti-gun violence initiatives and proposals.
In a related matter, NBC news criticized the NRA video for including an image of "Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory, who prompted an investigation by District of Columbia prosecutors after displaying a high-capacity ammunition magazine during an interview with NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre last month. Prosecutors decided not to file charges. "NBC News firmly objects to the use of our journalists in any political ad," the network said in a statement. "David Gregory's role as moderator of 'Meet the Press' is to ask tough questions of guests representing all sides of the issues."
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