Quote:
Originally Posted by NobodyHere
|
/waggles hand
Had the Obama Administration directed the ATF to regulate them, Congressional Republicans would have gone apeshit over an extra-constitutional usurpation of Congressional authority.
You know, like they did for virtually every other executive action he took.
So while the base of the criticism is legitimate - that the Obama Administration did not attempt to restrict the manufacture or sale of the devices - it's a little bit disingenuous of her to suggest that, had he done anything, Congress would have just shrugged and said 'okay.'
Remember, Congressional Republicans' entire focus for eight years was on denying Obama a win. Any win. On anything. We had nearly two dozen schoolkids murdered at Newtown under Barack Obama, and Republican Congressmen went 'meh' and went back to stroking themselves while reading "Big Guns."
Don't delude yourself on this one: the reason there's even a shot at seeing "bump stocks" regulated or banned in the aftermath of Vegas is tripartite:
1) the victims were white country music fans. AKA, more likely to be Republicans than not.
2) Within the larger context of the gun control debate, it's the least offensive-to-the-NRA regulatory action Republicans can take and still claim they did something. I mean, yes, the fact that they're doing anything at all is kind of amazing (if it happens), but the NRA has given them cover on this, so they can attempt to appear to be Doing Something Like Adults without actually addressing the 90% of the iceberg that lurks underwater.
3) Blame-Obama politics. You're already seeing some of it with the mention of Obama's ATF, but that'll go up to 11 if Congress passes this bill and Trump signs it. "HE didn't do anything but WE did. He *wanted* those people to die!!!one1!" It's red meat for the base, and heading into the '18 midterms anything that distracts the base from the ACA repeal dysfunction is good for them, politically speaking.