Today at the White House, President Obama is set to announce a package of proposals to reduce gun violence. President Obama and Vice President Biden will be joined by children from around the country who wrote letters expressing concerns about guns and school safety in the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, CT.
NBC News has learned that the president’s recommendations will include universal background checks, the prohibition of high capacity ammunition magazines, and some type of assault weapons ban. While the 19 executive actions won’t be announced today, among the ones that President Obama will choose from are prosecuting people who fail background checks, and reinvigorating federal research of firearm death and crimes.
According to a Washington Post/ABC poll 59% of Americans want stricter gun control laws to be a high priority for President Obama and Congress. The same poll shows that 51% want to ban semi-automatic handguns and 88% want background checks when purchasing guns. Thus, President Obama is not far off when it comes to going with the consensus of what the American public wants when it comes to stricter gun laws.
However, everyone is not in support of President Obama’s new package. The NRA is not pleased with this new proposal set to be announced today. They are on a massive PR offensive, releasing a new ad targeting President Obama calling him an “elitists hypocrite” for using the Secret Service to protect his children. So, we asked our Facebook audience what message would you give to the NRA?
Be sure to tune in at 3 p.m. as the Cyclists talk to Time’s Michael Crowley about President Obama’s gun package proposal and give their take on what was said today during the press conference.
Abby Borovitz