Constitutional Law

Followup to Obama statement

Several media outlets have picked it up, including WashPo, which noted: "His chosen avenue to highlight the issue, an op-ed in the Sunday edition of a small newspaper instead of a major speech, could suggest a more limited approach." That struck me as a bit strange, too. "Sending up a trial balloon" is a familiar legislative tactic, but the standard approach is to have a subordinate make a clear statement, as AG Holder did earlier with AW bans. Its clarity ensures would get real reactions and can gauge what type of reception the idea will get, and its origin in a subordinate ensures that if the reaction is bad you can disavow it, or just let it die off. A vague hint from the top guy has neither benefit.

In the meantime, Paul Helmke of Brady Campaign calls the hint "the most significant statement any president has made on gun violence in over a decade," with no apparent awareness of just pitiful that sounds.

Full post as published by Of Arms and the Law on March 14, 2011 (boomark / email).