January 17, 2013 8:52AM 

# A Constrained Gun Control Agenda 

By [Caleb O. Brown](https://www.cato.org/people/caleb-o-brown) 

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We didn’t get the “[Andrew Shepherd moment](https://www.cato.org/blog/obamas-andrew-shepherd-moment),” a neat parallel between Obama’s gun-control newser and Michael Douglas in [The American President](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112346/) confidently declaring that he’s going to “get the guns.” That the faux President made that pledge just moments after confidently affirming his membership in the ACLU (!) shows just how much the Second Amendment debate has changed since the [Heller decision](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller) in 2010.

The President’s proposed gun restrictions show some recongition that his agenda is constrained by the Constitution. [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) and I discuss President Obama’s gun control agenda in this [short video](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch):

More analysis from Ilya Shapiro [here](https://www.cato.org/blog/obamas-executive-orders-guns-better-legislative-proposals). Audio-only version of the above video available [here](https://www.cato.org/multimedia/daily-podcast/obamas-gun-control-agenda).

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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