President Obama appeared to soften his push for sweeping gun control in an email version to supporters of his Sunday night terrorism address from the Oval Office.
In that speech, he renewed his bid for restrictions on semi-automatic weapons and firearm access to those on terrorist watch lists. Obama said:
“To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.
Missing from this White House chart is Obama’s gun control line.
“We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measures. But the fact is that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies — no matter how effective they are — cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual is motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology. What we can do — and must do — is make it harder for them to kill.”
But in the White House email sent to subscribers, the domestic gun control and San Bernardino line were erased:
“To start, Congress should act to make sure that no one on a No Fly List is able to buy a gun. What possible argument can be made for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measure, but no matter how effective our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, we cannot identify every would-be mass shooter. What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill.”
What’s more, in the charts produced by the White House, the gun control message targeting access to “powerful guns” is missing.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
