Obama’s political wins not likely to include gun control

Following major political victories via Supreme Court rulings on Obamacare and gay marriage, President Barack Obama is seeing rising approval ratings and experiencing a confidence boost.

The president told reporters Tuesday that he intends to continue doubling down on his policy initiatives, including calls for increased gun control reinvigorated by the recent shooting tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina.

“The list is long,” he said during a press conference alongside Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. “We are going to squeeze every last ounce of progress that we can make as long as I have the privilege of holding this office.”

In a statement Sunday, the president urged supporters to lobby Congress along with state and local lawmakers for stricter gun control laws.

“We’ve had to come together as a nation too many times to mourn after horrific acts of gun violence,” Obama said in a statement. “And right now, it’s not good enough simply to show sympathy.”

Mass shootings, Obama claimed, have become commonplace in the U.S. because of lawmaker inaction.

“[T]heir refusal to act won’t stop progress,” Obama said. “Because of organizers like you, states like Washington and Oregon have introduced successful restrictions on gun purchases, like common-sense background checks.”

Despite the president’s confidence boost and call to action, public support for increased gun control measures from Congress and the White House is very low.

According to a recent CNN/ORC poll, 53 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s gun control policies compared to 42 percent who approve of his initiatives.

And with numbers like those, even gun control proponents acknowledge that Capitol Hill calls for Obama-approved gun control won’t soon muster the votes to move beyond rhetoric.

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) last week said they are currently exploring options to revive failed attempts to expand background checks for U.S. gun purchases. Toomey, however, was quick to point out that gun control supporters should manage their expectations.

“Honestly, I don’t want to build up any false expectations. I’m not aware that we have the votes to do what Sen. Manchin and I attempted,” he said, speaking of a previous effort to expand background checks.

“Is it possible that some portion of that, some subset of what we focused on is possible? Honestly, probably not likely.”

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