President Obama will unveil a comprehensive effort to address gun violence as he calls on Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as part of an aggressive agenda that is drawing resistance from some Republican lawmakers and gun rights advocates.

The president, facing criticism over his potential use of executive action to push multiple gun control measures, will be joined by children who wrote him letters about gun violence and school safety at a press conference shortly before noon on Wednesday.

"[The President] believes and knows that most all gun owners are highly responsible, they buy their guns legally, and they use them safely," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday. "He also has seen and believes that most gun owners support the idea of commonsense measures to prevent people who shouldn't have guns from getting them."

Carney, without getting into specifics, vowed a "comprehensive approach." Two Democrat aides later confirmed that the legislative plank would include a push for universal background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines and renewal of the assault weapons ban.

The announcement -- the product of a task force led by Vice President Biden -- is cloaked in controversy. That the announcement would include children as a backdrop added another level.

Roger Pilon, with the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, criticized the staging as "tacky," saying Obama has "carved up the population on a very emotional issue"...

The substance of Obama's announcement Wednesday, though, is likely to cause the biggest stir.

Sources say he's weighing as many as 19 possible actions he could take through executive order. Those options could include more aggressively enforcing existing gun laws, beefing up national research on guns and ordering stricter action against people who lie on gun sale background checks. They could include ordering tougher penalties for gun-trafficking offenses and ordering federal agencies to make data on gun crimes more readily available.

Carney on Tuesday declined to specify what actions the president might take via executive order.

The president, though, has already voiced support for separate legislative measures in Congress, like the renewal of the assault weapons ban. That is expected to face the toughest opposition in Congress. But Biden, who led the gun violence task force and met with the president Monday, indicated the group is also pressing for limits on high-capacity magazines -- as well as background checks for anyone seeking to purchase a gun. Carney reiterated Tuesday that Obama still wants those measures pursued...

The president's push is drawing resistance from Republicans in Congress. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), is now vowing to try to impeach Obama if he takes any action via executive order.

He called the plan to implement some controls administratively "an unconstitutional and unconscionable attack on the very founding principles of this republic...I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including, but not limited to, eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment."

The White House also has been at odds with the National Rifle Association, as it tries to keep focus on gun control measures in the wake of the Connecticut school massacre. The NRA, by contrast, has called for an increase in school security and a closer look at the entertainment and video game industries.

During his press conference Monday, Obama accused critics of his approach of "ginning up fear on the part of gun owners."

In response, NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said: "The president should go talk to the people buying firearms and ask them why they're buying firearms."

READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE: 01/16/2013

Editor's Note: The tactics of exploiting crisis to advance an ideological agenda and manipulating the masses through the exploitation of emotions are hallmarks of the Progressive Movement. Additionally, they were hallmark tactics used by the likes of Hitler, Mussolini and myriad despots and tyrants throughout history. As despicable as the manipulation of the masses through the exploitation of emotions is, the use of children to affect this manipulation is evil in its basic form. And make no mistake, while past presidents have flanked themselves with children during signing ceremonies, this is not a signing ceremony enacting law brought to the president through the legislative process. This is the announcement of Executive Orders meant to gin up emotions and usurp Congressional authority. There is a huge difference...