When Barack Obama publicly addresses Joe Biden’s gun control proposals this week, he should support a ban on assault weapons, Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel said on Current TV’s War Room. Many mayors and law enforcement officials are pulling for a gun safety package, including such a ban.

“This is not a progressive issue, this is a sanity issue,” vanden Heuvel told host Jennifer Granholm.

Responsible gun owners could also be drawn on for support, vanden Heuvel said. Although the NRA leadership opposes background checks for gun buyers, many of its members agree with the idea. 

—Alec Luhn

The NRA’s greatest PR coup in recent years was the Fast and Furious scandal, which resulted in US guns fueling drug violence in Mexico, Katrina vanden Heuvel reminds us in her latest blog post.