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Insider Round-Up: The Gun Control Annonucement

January 16, 2013 By WHC Insider

The Inaugural isn’t the only thing happening on Capitol Hill today, along with President Obama’s 11:55 a.m. gun control program. Below is our round-up for what’s worth reading.

  • The New York Times lays out President Obama’s talking points, fact sheet and executive orders including “improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.”
  • CNN explains what “universal background checks” are hinting at:
    “The “universal background checks” now being pushed by some gun control supporters is code for closing federal loopholes on such checks at gun shows and other private sales.”

  • The Wall Street Journal asks what qualifies as an assault rifle:
    “The definition of assault weapon is in the eye of the beholder. How it’s defined will depend on whatever legislation is proposed in Congress. Many of the firearms identified as assault weapons are semi-automatic rifles that look like weapons used by the military. An example is the Bushmaster rifle used in the Newtown, Conn., shootings.”

  • Politico already thinks the gun plan is “doomed:”
    “Interviews with multiple House Republicans from the Midwest and Northeast reveal almost zero appetite to vote on any sort of sweeping gun bill. In the month after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., none have brought up the issue with Speaker John Boehner. Without internal pressure from such center-right Republicans, and given his difficulties with restive conservatives in his conference, Boehner would seem to have little political incentive to move on guns.”

  • Polygon examines the importance of the president’s call for the Center of Disease Control and exploring the effects of violence from video games:
    “For years, the CDC and other federally funded scientific agencies have been barred by Congress from using funds to “advocate or promote gun control.” Some have argued that that ban prevented the organizations from conducting research into the causes of gun violence. Today’s Presidential Memorandum on the topic looks to discount that argument.”

  • Meanwhile, the NRA ad targeting the president’s kids is called “repugnant and cowardly” while the NRA defends itself to WaPo:
    “‘The main aim of the ad is to make sure that we all act to keep our children safe. It’s not aimed at anyone’s child in particular,’ he said. ‘Anyone who claims otherwise is intentionally trying to change the topic or missing the point completely.'”

  • And yes, as The Daily Beast points out, there is an NRA game for iOS:
    “The NRA did not respond to requests for comment on the app from The Daily Beast or, apparently, any other news organization. If the app were an ugly hoax, the NRA would have been justified in crowing that it had been set up, and the media bought it hook, line, and sinker. Instead, crickets—a tacit admission of at least some guilt. My guess is that the app had been commissioned and forgotten about. But silence ain’t going to make the thing go away. At least someone decided they’d better change the age appropriateness of the app to ages 12 and up—because that will make it all better.”
  • Filed Under: DC, Insider Round-Ups, News, The White House Tagged With: Barack Obama, Gun Control, Insider Round-Up, Joe Biden, News, NRA

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    Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful reporters and editors in the world, the Washington press corps. We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos. Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and she hosts the Washington Insider podcast.

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