Obama mulls issuing executive orders on gun control

Joe Biden and his big mouth.

The HIll:

President Obama will likely take executive action in an effort to tamp down the recent rash of gun violence, Vice President Biden said Wednesday.

"The president is going go act," said Biden, who is conducting meetings all week on gun control. "There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all."

He said last month's Newtown, Conn., tragedy - which took the lives of 20 elementary school children - "touched the heart of the American people so profoundly" and "requires immediate, urgent action."

It is unclear what specific executive orders Obama is contemplating, though one Democratic aide with insight into the talks said Obama could sidestep Congress and bolster federally funded mental-health programs.

Biden sat beside Attorney General Eric Holder as he met at the White House with gun-control leaders, including the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, along with victims of gun violence, including survivors of the Virginia Tech University shooting and the stepfather of a victim in last summer's Aurora, Colo., shooting.

Participants in the meeting said while Biden underscored the fundamental respect of the Second Amendment, the consensus at the table focused on assault weapons and high capacity magazines along with background checks.

"I want to make clear that we're not going to get caught up in the notion that, unless we can do everything, we're going to do nothing," Biden said. "It's critically important we act."

It should be noted that there is a near zero chance that the president will issue an executive order grabbing any guns. It is more likely that Obama will tighten reporting requirements for state agencies who report mentally ill people to the government, or perhaps hit gun shows with new requirements that will make it more difficult for sellers to do business. But there's no sense going overboard with hysterical warnings about Obama taking guns. Not going to happen and it only makes the president's critics look crazy.

Daniel Halper reports how emotionally unhinged Biden became in this meeting:

Biden said that this is a moral issue and that "it's critically important that we act."

Biden talked also about taking responsible action. "As the president said, if your actions result in only saving one life, they're worth taking. But I'm convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of Americans and take thousands of people out of harm's way if we act responsibly."

A "moral issue?" Nonsense. It's a constitutional issue and Biden is deliberately ratcheting up the rhetoric to hysterical levels. And if you save "one life" and take "thousands of people out of harm's way," what about the thousands of armed citizens who save lives - their own, their families, and bystanders - by having the ability to defend themselves?

Of far more importance than any executive order Obama might issue is the obvious administration strategy of turning this into an emotional debate so that people won't think logically of the consequences. To do this, they will invoke Newtown every chance they get. They know they will lose a debate on the merits and facts. But they have a chance if they exploit the Newtown dead and scare people into pressuring congress to adopt bad legislation.

"Never let a crisis go to waste" - even if you have to create one by standing on the dead bodies of little children.