Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Siren Song The Truth About The President's Call For "Consensus"

Sunday, June 19, 2011

In Greek mythology, a siren was an alluring creature that used its intoxicating song to lure sailors to their doom on hidden rocks.

In the days and weeks following January's horrific mass murder in Tucson, the chorus of voices calling for new gun laws was as predictable as the sun rising in the east.

Now, President Obama has joined in and is playing the role of siren with a call for "consensus" on gun control. But don't be fooled; the result of heeding that call would be the same for our Second Amendment rights as it was for those sailors of Greek myth.

Groups like the Brady Campaign and Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), along with all the usual anti-gun politicians, almost immediately called for new restrictions on our Second Amendment rights. The anti-gun crowd, frustrated by two years of inaction, saw the Tucson tragedy as an opportunity to move their agenda forward.

As they called for the president to address the issue, groups like MAIG released multi-part, anti-gun proposals. Meanwhile, anti-gun politicians such as U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., introduced legislation in the hopes that Obama would endorse their anti-gun ideas.

On March 13, President Obama finally broke his silence--not in the national speech once promised by the White House, but in an op-ed published in the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson's leading daily newspaper.

Just like the siren's call, the president's tone was soothing and conciliatory, nothing like the hard-line rhetoric we hear from anti-gun leaders in Congress. "Now, like the majority of Americans," Obama stated in the op-ed, "I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms."

But there's always a catch: "However," he continued, "I believe that if common sense prevails, we can get beyond wedge issues and stale political debates to find a sensible, intelligent way to make the United States of America a safer, stronger place."

That might sound great--until you consider what anti-gun groups and longtime anti-gun politicians like Obama consider "sensible" and "intelligent." Among the measures they often call "common sense laws" are things like gun and magazine bans, or banning all private sales of firearms, even to close friends or family.

Obama's words rang particularly hollow when his administration's first move after the article came out was a meeting with the leading opponents of gun owners' rights in America. They ring even hollower when you consider the administration's other actions, such as the proposals by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to collect multiple sales reports on millions of common rifles, or to ban the importation of an entire class of shotguns.

The next day, Wayne LaPierre and I responded to President Obama. Our full letter speaks for itself, and you can read it here.

Our message was simple: We are willing to work with everyone who truly respects the Second Amendment. However, that does not include a president who has surrounded himself with anti-gun advisors, or who has nominated two Supreme Court justices with clear records of hostility to the Second Amendment. Nor does it include the man who wants gun owners to sit down and search for "consensus" with anti-gun radicals. There will be no "beer summit" to compromise our freedoms.

The 2012 campaign is now officially under way, for the president as well as for the NRA. President Obama will again claim to be pro-Second Amendment. His actions, however, prove that his words have no more substance than a siren's song.

TRENDING NOW
Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

In a temporary reprieve for Colorado gun owners, the semi-auto ban HB24-1292 has been removed from the calendar. But we cannot let our guard down as gun control advocates can bring it up for a vote at ...

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

Much of the attention this past week in the United States Supreme Court was the oral arguments in National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, No. 22-842, a First Amendment case on whether government officials ...

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on House Bill 24-1292, the semi-auto ban, that lasted over 12 hours where hundreds of patriotic Coloradans overloaded the committee with opposition testimony. The hearing concluded with an ...

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, March 25, 2024

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

In response to the NRA’s victory in Bruen, which secured every American’s right to carry arms, NY passed the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act,” severely restricting carry throughout the state. The 2nd Circuit upheld many of ...

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

On March 19, the city of Chicago filed suit against handgun manufacturer Glock. Seeking to shift responsibility for the city’s woeful governance, Chicago’s lawsuit blames the popular firearm manufacturer for the third-party criminal misuse of ...

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Today, Governor Inslee signed five anti-gun bills into law that were recently passed by the Washington State Legislature. The bills include:

Anti-gun Democrats Seek to Undermine Law Passed to Protect Veterans’ Rights

News  

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Anti-gun Democrats Seek to Undermine Law Passed to Protect Veterans’ Rights

Last week we reported on a major breakthrough on behalf of veterans who risked losing their Second Amendment rights because of a long-running scheme by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report certain beneficiaries ...

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled for Floor Vote Today!

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled for Floor Vote Today!

Today, the House is scheduled to vote on HB24-1292, the ban on semi-automatic firearms. Please contact your legislators today by using the button below and urge them to OPPOSE HB24-1292!

Louisiana: Firearms Bills on the Move - Take Action Now!

Monday, March 25, 2024

Louisiana: Firearms Bills on the Move - Take Action Now!

A number of firearm-related bills, including enhanced preemption, are moving in the Louisiana Legislature. It's critical that NRA members and Second Amendment supporters get involved to keep the momentum going!

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

On Wednesday, the Senate Game & Fisheries Committee voted 7-4 to pass Senate Bill 67 to the Senate floor for a vote. 

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.