David Brooks: Obama’s ‘Been Reasonably Respectful Toward the Second Amendment’

WOODRUFF: “And that brings us to the analysis of Brooks and Corn. That’s New York Times columnist David Brooks, and David Corn, Washington bureau chief for ‘Mother Jones’ and an analyst for MSNBC. Mark Shields is away this week. We welcome you both.”

CORN: “Thank you.”

WOODRUFF: “Gentlemen. So, David Brooks, who is right? Does the president respect the Second Amendment or doesn’t he?”

BROOKS: I have got to side with Obama on this one. He — the Second Amendment guarantees guns, some possession. It doesn’t guarantee all guns. It doesn’t guarantee a freedom from background checks. It doesn’t mean you can’t regulate them in some way. And so I think he’s been reasonably respectful toward the Second Amendment. I personally support most of what he proposed. Do I think it will do a lot of good? Probably not. The history of gun control legislation from the Brady Bill, backwards and forwards, has been that it can reduce suicides, but it doesn’t seem to have a huge effect on homicide rates. So the effect of what the president proposes is, I think, minimal, but probably a positive small step in the right direction. And it boggles the mind to think it would be in violation of the Constitution.”