Will Chicago Play Host to the Gun Control Battle?

Rormer senior campaign adviser says administration could tap grass roots donors, targeted emails to sell gun policy

President Barack Obama won re-election, so the campaign staffers who ran his operation from a floor of the Prudential Tower have been searching for something to do with their time. 

Now that Obama has signaled a fight with the gun industry over ownership, the campaign apparatus has apparently found its calling. 

"It's time to turn it loose," said former White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs, suggesting that Obama would use his campaign infrastructure to sell gun control, campaign style. 

Obama's former senior campaign adviser Stephanie Cutter told Ed Shultz on "The Ed Show" Wednesday night that Obama for America would likely activate it's apparatus of grass roots donors and targeted emails to help sell their policy plan to the country.  

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President Obama provides the leadership here, and he said the American people have to speak up and make their voices heard in this debate. Just like the NRA is doing with there membership. And President Obama's network across this country, grassroots individuals, who organize, volunteered with their time to get the president reelected are much more powerful than the NRA lobby.


And I think that you can expect to see that network activated, very soon. And for good reason. We need to pass commonsense legislation to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those who shouldn't be carrying guns. That's the commonsense nature of this.
 
Obama has been tying Chicago into the gun debate, so it would make sense that his Chicago-based campaign operation would play a role. 
 
"The most fundamental set of rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, fundamental rights that were denied to college students at Virginia Tech, high school students at Columbine and elementary school students in Newtown, and kids on street corners in Chicago, are too frequent a basis to tolerate," he said.
 
Obama's former Chief of Staff, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has also been vocal about the push for gun control, too. 
 
In a statement following Obama's Wednesday address on gun violence, Emanuel called the approach thoughtful and comprehensive.
 
“These are exactly the common sense laws that we need as a city and a nation to help prevent the gun violence that too often plagues our communities," the mayor said.
 
"People throughout the country are supportive of common sense laws that keep guns out of the hands of criminals and give law enforcement officials the tools they need to protect our children, our families and our neighborhoods.”
 
Since then, Emanuel has laid out plans to propose new gun control measures that would broaden a requirement for gun owners to report the loss, theft or sale of firearms. He also told city pension funds this week to divest from gun manufacturers.
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