My Thursdee column begins like so:
Yesterday, President Obama and Vice President Biden announced a bold series of new gun control regulations designed to restrict access to the deadliest weapons available, which targeting other firearm-related areas through a series of 23 executive orders, which the president immediately authorized. Needless to say, the roster of actions went far beyond the expectations of gun control advocates (like me), while blunting some of the paranoid delusions of the gun lobby and the Republican Party.
ThinkProgress posted a comprehensive summary of the actions, but here's a thumbnail. The president plans to resurrect the expired assault weapons ban and close all of the loopholes created by the NRA's puppets in 1994. Bullet control: no more magazines larger than 10 rounds, and no more armor-piercing bullets. Background checks will be expanded to private sales, and the gun-show loophole will be permanently closed. Additional funding has been authorized for states to report criminals to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The administration will request congressional appropriations for hiring more police officers, as well as more effective tracing of firearms. The president will restart CDC research into gun violence which was blocked by the NRA -- ironically, the CDC's research examined the effects of violence in media, which is of course one of the NRA's primary talking points since Sandy Hook. The Consumer Product Safety Commission will evaluate gun-safes and other gun-safety measures. One thousand new counselors will be added to public schools; eight thousand schools will receive anti-bullying funding; and the president will expand Medicaid to include mental health services -- a long overdue measure.
Bottom line: nobody from the administration is planning to confiscate James Yeager's penis-lengthening death toys... [continue reading]