WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday signaled that he’s finally ready to use his political muscle to take on the powerful gun lobby and push a package of gun-control bills through Congress next year.
“The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing,” Obama said, seizing the momentum for new gun laws after Friday’s killing of 20 schoolchildren and seven adults in Connecticut.
Obama tapped Vice President Joe Biden to head a task force that will come up with proposals, including an assault-weapons ban, closing gun-show background check loopholes and restricting the sale of high-capacity ammunition clips, among other initiatives.
He gave the panel a month to complete its work. But the president, who will address gun control in his State of the Union speech for the first time since taking office, bristled at suggestions that he’s late to the effort.
Asked at a news conference, “Where have you been” following previous gun massacres during his tenure, Obama snapped:
“I’ve been president of the United States, dealing with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, an auto industry on the verge of collapse, two wars. I don’t think I’ve been on vacation.”
The battle to take on gun control — often described as the third rail of US politics — comes as several pro-gun lawmakers have said they are finally willing to consider bills restricting the sale of weapons.
Obama insisted his proposals will fall far short of dismantling the Second Amendment — and will leave room for legal gun ownership.
“And there is a big chunk of space between what the Second Amendment means and having no rules at all,” Obama said. “And that space is what Joe is going to be working on to try to identify where we can find some common ground.”
Mayor Bloomberg, one of the nation’s most outspoken gun-control advocates and a critic of the president’s lack of action, called Obama’s move a step in the right direction.
“The country needs his leadership if we are going to reduce the daily bloodshed from gun violence that we have seen for too long,” Bloomberg said.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-LI) last week threatened to “embarrass” Obama if he didn’t move on gun control. Yesterday, she welcomed his commitment to the effort.
“This time is different now that we have a president behind us,” McCarthy said of previous failed battles against the powerful gun lobby.