President Barack Obama, recognizing the uphill battle he faces in urging Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, appealed to the public with an op-ed calling for Americans to take their own case for gun restrictions to their lawmakers. "The truth is, there's only one voice powerful enough to make this happen: yours. If you think we've suffered too much pain to allow this to continue, put down the paper, turn off the computer, and get your Members of Congress on record," Obama urged readers in an op-ed in the Connecticut Post, just after he unveiled tough new gun safety proposals after last month's tragic elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn. The question for Obama will be whether he can sustain the political momentum of his gun control campaign and its emotional timbre, NBC's First Read team writes. In the short term, he must get some of his proposed measures through Congress, and in the longer term, he must change the politics of gun violence — which is where his campaign's momentum will be especially important, according to First Read.
