By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
The big-ticket items in President Obama's push for action on gun control will require the approval of Congress, but many of the 23 executive moves he announced Wednesday could have been taken at any time in his first term — a point that nettles those who have been advocating for stricter measures.
Army 1st Sgt. Matthew Corrigan learned the hard way that the District of Columbia doesn't believe it has to abide by the Constitution like the 50 states do. For nearly 40 years, the nation's capital completely ignored the Second Amendment.
White House attorneys signed off on the proposal, but Mr. Gardiner said issues could be raised with language, depending on what the studies entail.
"And they probably don't want to push anything more at the moment, because that means they'll have to fight off congressional efforts to unfund it," Mr. Gardiner said. "So the administration would have to fight that off, and they probably didn't want to pick any more fights than they absolutely have to."
