"Guns don't kill people." Possibly the most stupid meme ever to be floated by the NRA.

[spin]

16. I agree. That scares me and I am a gun owner who has enjoyed target shooting ...

for over 40 years.

I also fear that these weapons will not be stored securely and will be stolen or accessed by children. Tragedies will result.

Semi-auto firearms such as an AR-15 can be used for target shooting and also by hunters but few gun owners have any real need to own such weapons. They may be a choice for a self defense in a rural environment but not the best choice of a weapon in a crowded urban environment. That of course is debatable.

Some will argue that they should be in civilian hands to stop our government from any attempt to disarm all citizens and turn our nation into a tyranny. While there may be some value in this argument I see little chance of gun bans and confiscation passing any time in the near future. Obama might be a liberal but he is far from a tyrant. He is not about to proclaim himself as President for life or tear up the Constitution.

It is possible that a watered down Assault Weapons Ban II could pass and it might be stronger than the original AWB but it will be a long and difficult battle that requires a lot of support at the grassroots level. Unfortunately this may be offset by the efforts of the 80,000,000 gun owners and the voting age members of their families. Such legislation may have strong support in Blue states but little in Red states. Elected Democrats from Blue states will support strong gun control but Democrats from Red states will be far more hesitant and of course most Republicans will support gun rights.

It might be wiser and far more effective for those who support strong gun control and live in Blue states to try to change their state laws. In states like Florida where over 800,000 residents have concealed weapons permits and firearm ownership is very common it will be almost impossible to try to pass laws such as recently passed in New York. Of course Florida did go for Obama in the last two elections but if the majority of Floridians would support strong gun control laws the state's Stand Your Ground law would face a serious effort to repeal it after the Trayvon Martin shooting. An effort to do so has been launched but most experts feel it has little or no chance in the Republican controlled Florida legislature.

Of course I might be wrong as there is no doubt that Obama can fire up his base and they are very effective. Obama is one of the best motivational speakers I have ever seen but to be honest he seems to have some difficulty being an effective leader and often passes off this task to Congress or others. For example he appointed Joe Biden to lead his effort on formulating gun control policy rather than to take on the job himself. He has the "bully pulpit" and definitely the ability to effectively use it. I believe that we would have ended up with a far better health care bill if Obama would have taken a larger role rather than to leave it to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Still it was a vast improvement.

Obama does have considerable media support for gun control. Unfortunately many Americans have a low opinion of the media.

It is my opinion that Obama wants to start the bargaining with a strong position. I feel he will accept a watered down AWB or none at all in exchange for some real improvements in our gun laws. Perhaps there will once again limits on the size of magazines manufactured after a certain date. I see no real problem with this but it will merely be a "feel good" law as magazines can be changed quickly with just a little practice and the reality is that a 10 round magazine is far less likely to cause a firearm to jam than the dreaded 100 round magazine. It's far easier to swap a magazine and takes less time than to clear a jam. I speak from experience.

Still I might be wrong. Time will tell.