Gun Politics New York

Pundit Steve Chapman opines that “Obama Spurns Gun Control.”  I don’t agree.  While his administration has not been pushing antigun legislation thus far, that isn’t the only way to advance the antigun agenda.  He can do it indirectly through his appointments and through the judiciary.  Some examples:

Attorney General Eric Holder

• Holder: Gun control options ‘narrowed’ after high court ruling
  

  “… Holder said that he previously viewed the Second Amendment as a “collective right” to bear arms, not an individual right …”

• Holder Revives Talk Of An Assault Weapons Ban
  

  “… Responding to a reporter’s question on weapons’ regulations, Holder said, “Well, as President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons. I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum.” Holder refused to speculate when legislation would move forward …”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

• Ban by baby steps
  

  “… In 2012, the United Nation’s will push for the Arms Trade Treaty, which, among other things, will establish goals regarding the ownership and disposition of firearms on a global basis … The Arms Trade Treaty, along with attempts to reconstitute the so-called “assault weapons ban,” and efforts to ban lead-based ammunition are among the biggest challenges facing the shooting sports industry in the coming years, according to Steve Sanneti, president and CEO of the National Shooting Sports Foundation … Sanetti said he thinks it might pose the greatest danger if only because there are so many different permutations it could take, any of which could be disastrous to gun owners … “Essentially, the international community doesn’t understand why Americans respect and protect their Second Amendment rights because in most countries no such rights exist … “The current (Obama) administration has gone on record as saying it’s time for this country to rejoin the community of nations and get more in line with various international goals. So, definitely, gun control is moving to the forefront, though not in such an-in-your-face, confrontational manner that we’ve seen before in this country. Gun control advocates go in one direction, try and fail, and then go in another direction. That’s been the pattern.” …”

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

• Sonia Sotomayor on Gun Rights and Racial Preferences
  

  “… Equally troubling is Sotomayor’s record on the Second Amendment. This past January, the Second Circuit issued its opinion in Maloney v. Cuomo, which Sotomayor joined, ruling that the Second Amendment does not apply against state and local governments … the Supreme Court is almost certain to take up the question in the near future. What role might soon-to-be Justice Sotomayor play? As gun rights scholar and Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel told me via email, Sotomayor’s opinions “demonstrate a profound hostility to Second Amendment rights” …”

Chapman concludes his op-ed by saying:

“… In terms of actual policy, rather than his previous record, Obama is a long way from being anti-gun. This is not because he has fond memories of sitting in a deer stand as a lad in Hawaii or of talking shotguns with Dick Cheney. It’s because his mother didn’t raise a fool. Like some other Democrats, he may recall that in 1994, after banning “assault weapons,” they lost the House for the first time in 40 years … He is not about to pick a fight with centrist Democrats over gun control. Opponents of gun control should not rely on Obama’s innermost sentiments on the subject. He obviously doesn’t cherish the right to keep and bear arms. But for those who favor Second Amendment rights, here’s the nice thing about having such a canny politician in the White House: He doesn’t have to.”

No, he doesn’t have to pick a fight with fellow Democrats.  That is the problem with having such a canny politician in the White House.  He can, and has, advanced the antigun agenda through the backdoor.