Jazzman: Not asking this facetiously, but what questions do you feel still need to be asked?
There was a ban on assault weapons that included a reduction in magazine capacities to less than 10 rounds. Subsequent to the ban’s sunset, groups as diverse as the National Institute of Justice (NIJ, the research arm of the Department of Justice), the CDC and the National Research Council, all issued reports on the effectiveness of the ban. Nearly universally, it was held to not have worked, largely because those weapons deemed as “assault weapons” are infrequently used in gun murders. Also, reduced capacity magazines did not negatively impact gun murder rates, either.
There has also been similar reportage on universal background checks, which found that due to strawman purchases (47%) and theft (26%), the efficacy of such checks would be reduced. Implementing a universal background check that solely focused on minimizing strawman purchases was held to be of benefit, but hugely costly and cumbersome.
Coming so shortly on the heels of the Newtown strategy, the president’s push for gun control was political theater (especially with his pervasive use of either children or first responders at his various speaking venues), combined with opportunism. Obama is a skilled orator and campaigner and undoubtedly struck while the iron was hot. If anything demonstrates the sheer muscle of the NRA, it was this Senate vote.
