John Bolton: Obama’s 2nd term will see gun control as a priority

Former UN ambassador John Bolton told an audience at the NRA annual convention in Pittsburgh that a reelected Barack Obama would make gun control one of his top priorities:

“We can understand that, as he likes to say, he’s playing the long game, and that ‘leading from behind’ means waiting until he’s elected to a second term when he faces no further political constraints and his true agenda can come to the floor,” Bolton told thousands of gun owners at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting here. “And I believe right at the top of it is [to] increase gun control at the federal level and at the international level.”

Is there anyone who doubted that Obama has wanted to impose stricter gun control ever since he was elected? Given his support of gun control in the past (favoring bans on handguns and “assault weapons”, supporting the DC gun ban, and supporting frivolous lawsuits against gun makers), some wonder at the fact that he hasn’t already pushed for more laws. The reason he hasn’t is because he isn’t an idiot.

Gun control is an absolutely toxic political issue. As much as many Democrats, and some Republicans, want new gun laws, they know that the attempt is like calling in an artillery strike on your own position. Sure, it gets the other side’s attention, but you find your own side to be an awfully lonely place afterward. Just ask Bill Clinton. That 1994 gun ban worked out great, eh Bubba? No, the time to attempt to pass new gun laws is after you’ve won reelection. You won’t feel the wrath of the electorate, obviously, and those members of your party who will were often unreliable anyway. Who cares if a few Blue Dogs get blown out, right Obama? Your most stalwart supporters come from safe districts and states. In other words, no one is going to throw Maxine Waters out of office because Obama supported a gun bill. So we won’t see Obama’s true, gun-grabbing colors until 2013.

Let’s make sure that he has all the time in the world to work on his golf game come 2013.