In the wake of President Obama's gun control press conference, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has called out the President in what Human Events calls a "2nd Amendment gut check":

I think that the President - and he just doesn't have the guts to admit it - is not a believer in the Second Amendment, although he states that he is... The Second Amendment's in the Constitution.  I didn't write the Constitution.  Neither did you, neither did he.  If he doesn't want it in the Constitution or he wants to reform the Second Amendment, then have the guts to admit that.  [emphasis in original]

Senator Rubio has challenged a President who until now has been given a free pass, because no one has had the guts to directly confront him politically, including, to our perpetual misfortune, Governor Romney.

Before he was re-elected, the President said he was working on gun control "under the radar."  He did not have the honesty to openly move on the Second Amendment in his first term, knowing such a move could jeopardize his reelection.

Now, however, Obama and Biden are pulling out all the stops to exploit the Newtown tragedy to move their anti-gun agenda, and it will be up to Congress to decide how far the Obama gun grab will go. 

The Hill reports that the administration and congressional Democrats have decided to pursue anti-gun legislation as a "series" of separate bills:

White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed Thursday that the administration would encourage Congress to consider the various aspects of the president's gun violence proposals as separate pieces of legislation.

The move could signal White House concern over the possibility that a comprehensive "Cadillac" bill could stumble in Congress...

By separating the more ambitious gun regulations from a bill that would impose universal background checks on gun purchases or provide additional funding for research, mental health professionals and police, the White House could be acknowledging the tough political opposition towards a weapons ban.

As Human Events points out, the left has been content to "chip away" at the Constitution, all the while hiding the ultimate goal:

Those who complain that banning "assault weapons" has little to do with the Newtown massacre, and won't do much to slow down violent crime, are misunderstanding the progressive mind.  Such uselessness is a feature, not a bug.  That way, they'll be able to come after handguns, the next time the public mind is concentrated upon gun crimes.  As long as each stage of the process makes the government a bit bigger, and the sphere of individual liberty a bit smaller, the progressive software is running properly.

While the gun control crowd tries to soothe the public by talking about hunters and respecting the Second Amendment, and now breaking their legislation into smaller pieces, they have seized on Newtown as their defining moment, and are going for broke this time.  We are in for a rough ride over the next few months.