The national debate over gun control may have been pushed to the back burner in favor of the “fiscal cliff” battle, but President Obama remains committed to confronting the issue no matter the resistance from gun owners and the National Rifle Association. In a rare appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Mr. Obama expressed strong support for a reinstatement of the federal ban on assault weapons, outlawing high-capacity clips and a better system of background checks for those seeking to buy firearms. He’s long supported those ideas, as have many Democrats, but the mass shooting at Sandy Hook...