After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, Barack Obama made a pledge to the nation:

“In the coming weeks I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement, mental health professionals to parents and educators in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this,” Obama said. “Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage? That the politics are too hard?

Of course, what President Obama meant by “preventing more tragedies like this” is pushing more gun control. The movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newton, Connecticut were already gun-free zones, however.

January 3, 2013: Breitbart analyzed FBI annual crime statistics, which revealed that “the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.”

January 16, 2013: Barack Obama announced 23 new executive actions on gun control and called on Congress to “restore a ban on military style assault weapons.” He also called for a ban on ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds and universal background checks.

January 24, 2013: California Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced new gun control legislation aimed at reinstating the 1994 “assault weapons ban.” The current bill bans the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of 158 firearms.

Feinstein and Obama focus on using emotion to pass the legislation because it’s an uphill battle–even in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Feinstein will be relying on survivor testimonials, along with images of the slain Sandy Hook students, most of them 6- year-olds, to push these Democrats to reconsider their opposition.

“The message to Democrats is, ‘See what your silence does?’” Feinstein told reporters. “There will be more of these. These won’t end.”

“If just reading the list of beautiful names and looking into the eyes of some of the pictures of the children slain doesn’t do something to the conscience of America, nothing I can say or do will,” she said.

The White House also released four videos of children reading their letters to President Obama asking for more gun control.

January 24, 2013: Joe Biden—the man who led the gun violence task force—gave advice on post-earthquake protection and which gun you’re more likely to hit someone with. Hint: a double barrel shotgun—not those “assault weapons.”

January 24, 2013: The Washington Times analyzed recent state laws and found “no discernible correlation between stricter rules and lower gun-crime rates in the states.” Think: Chicago.

January 29, 2013: CNN figures out handguns kill more people than “assault weapons.”

Yet, as the Obama administration moves forward with legislation to stem the toll of gun violence in America, the focus has been on curbing access to high-powered rifles and large-capacity magazines, not the common handguns that account for the majority of gun deaths in America. […]

But even if these proposals [Sen. Feinstein’s] make it through to legislation, what impact will they have on stemming the deaths by America’s most deadly firearm?

January 31, 2013: Katie Pavlich points out semi-automatic handguns are the weapon of choice in mass shootings.

A November 2012 Mass Shootings Analysis report issued by the New Jersey Intelligence & Analysis Unit (NJ ROIC) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shows semiautomatic handguns are the most common weapons used to carry out mass shootings. The report was issued one month before the Newtown shooting in which, according to the coroner and police, the killer used a semi-automatic rifle.

January 31, 2013: Joe Biden says new gun laws won’t do much in the way of ending mass shootings like that which occurred in Newtown, Connecticut.

Biden met with Senate Democrats on Thursday to urge them to support the gun restrictions that President Barack Obama has proposed. They include bans on assault weapons and on high-capacity magazines for ammunition and requiring all gun buyers to undergo background checks.

After that session, Biden told reporters that the administration’s plans would not eliminate the chances of another mass shooting, or bring gun deaths down to 1,000 yearly from the current 30,000 estimated by the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence.

Progressives keep pursuing anyway.