White House: Obama 'Actively Supportive' of Assault Weapons Ban

"Heartened" by what he has heard from some members of Congress

(AP File Photo)

(TheBlaze/AP) -- The White House says President Barack Obama is "actively supportive" of efforts on Capitol Hill to reinstate an assault weapons ban, marking a change from the more open-ended support of "change" in days and years past.

President Obama has long backed stricter gun laws, but failed to make significant headway during his first term.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) plans to introduce legislation to reinstate the ban early next year, and while White House spokesman Jay Carney was noncommittal yesterday, he's now put the White House on record.

"He is actively supportive of, for example, Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein’s stated intent to revive a piece of legislation that would reinstate the assault weapons ban," Carney remarked Tuesday during his daily briefing.

Carney says Obama would also consider legislation to close the gun show "loophole," and regulate certain ammunition clips.

Carney explained:

"He supports and would support legislation that addresses the problem of the so-called gun show loophole, and there are other elements of gun legislation that he could support … high capacity ammunition clips, for example. That is certainly something he would be interested in looking at."

Obama has pledged to address gun violence in the coming weeks, following Friday's deadly shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. He told the nation Sunday at a vigil for the victims that we will have to "change."

Carney added that Obama spoke Tuesday with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat and avid hunter who is now supportive of a national discussion on preventing gun violence.

According to Carney, Obama is "heartened" by what he has heard from some members of Congress who have been "longtime opponents" of certain gun control measures.

Manchin released a statement about the discussion later Tuesday (via Politico):

We agree that as Americans and parents, all of our children belong to all of us – and we must work together to keep our precious children safe.
I believe that we must have a dialogue and bring parties from all sides to the table. I know my friends at the NRA and those who support our Second Amendment rights will participate because I know that their hearts are aching for the families in Newtown, just like all Americans.
To have a productive dialogue, we also need to address a number of critical issues, including our mental health system, safety in our schools and a media and entertainment culture that glorifies unspeakable violence. [Emphasis added]

Here is video of Carney's remarks, via Politico: