NRA President: Congress Likely Won’t Pass Assault Weapons Ban
National Rifle Association President David Keene said he doesn’t think an assault weapons ban would be able to make it through Congress. Same goes for a ban on high-capacity magazines. Keene did make clear that things could change if President Obama wants to spend lots of political capital on the issue, but he made clear he still thinks the NRA has enough support in Congress.
"When a president takes all the power of his office, if he's willing to expend political capital, you don't want to make predictions. You don't want to bet your house on the outcome. But I would say that the likelihood is that they are not going to be able to get an assault weapons ban through this Congress," Keene said on CNN. (Watch video of the interview after the jump.)
He’s not alone. Sen. John McCain replied with a “no” when he was asked on CBS whether Congress would ban assault weapons and then replied with a simple “no” again when asked whether it should pass.
Although many have suggested the White House may be moving away from a politically difficult push to ban assault weapons, the administration has denied that’s the case. "The president has been clear that Congress should reinstate the assault weapons ban and that avoiding this issue just because it's been politically difficult in the past is not an option," Matt Lehrich, a spokesman for Obama, told Yahoo News on Friday.