Today’s a big day for the President.
President Obama is set to unveil his first budget proposal since the elementary school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. In that proposal, we’ll see how he responds to those shootings and gun control measures.
While a bundle of gun control legislation is on the Senate floor currently, the President can still extend gun restrictions in his budget proposal. And what we’ll likely see are four, “formerly-temporary” provisions:
– Gun dealers would be required to conduct annual inventories to make sure their arsenal hasn’t been broken into or “lost.”
– A proposal to retain definitions on the types of antique guns that can be imported into the US.
– A provision that would refuse licenses to gun dealers who lack business to continue to sell firearms.
– A measure to require a disclaimer on “data about guns to indicate that it ‘cannot be used to draw broad conclusions about firearms-related crimes.'”
Sounds ineffectual, right? But the “risky” provisions, once temporary, are now becoming permanent, and that’s a good thing for gun rights advocates.
“The Second Amendment is a fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in a statement about the provisions. “And we should protect it wherever we can.”
Chaninat & Leeds is a US-Thailand law firm located in Bangkok, Thailand and is staffed by licensed Thai attorneys and licensed US lawyers.
Today, we’ll see how President Obama reacts to those provisions, as well as gun control legislation that would expand background checks for gun buyers. Because most strict gun control legislation hasn’t moved very far federally, and a certain group of Republicans will ensure it, political pundits are predicting any real gun control discussions will remain stagnant — the “policy window” is closing.
“If they don’t get any movement in the next week or two, the gun laws are not going to happen,” said Dr. John Hudak, a political analyst with think-tank Brookings Institution. “Get to May and there is no movement, they may as well stop trying.”
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