Obama Avoided Provocation With Relatively Modest Gun Executive Orders

Do you really want to go down as the jerk who sparked another civil war?

Instead of a firestorm, President Barack Obama's gun policy executive orders little more than a fizzle among gun advocates.

For days leading up to the announcement, conservative websites and media outlets stoked fears of what Obama was planning to do unilaterally. But when he unveiled his proposal Wednesday — even though the list of executive actions had grown from 19 to 23 — he'd stayed so modest that they didn't do much but shrug.

Instead of a mass gun round-up or even finding ways to extend existing gun restrictions through clever legal maneuvering, Obama didn't even sign a single paper with the dreaded "executive order" label. The closest he got were three "presidential memoranda."