PBS: Obama Admin Trusted Manchin to Beat NRA on Gun Control – PBS’s new special, Gunned Down: The Power Of The NRA, makes it clear the Obama administration trusted Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to beat the NRA on gun control in 2013. Manchin was the author of the much-touted gun control “compromise” bill which he and other Democrats pushed in the wake of the heinous attack on Sandy Hook Elementary. According to PBS, “Obama decided to try to do something” following Sandy Hook and he knew he had to do it quickly, while “concern” and “attention” were elevated. Momentum seemed to be going Obama’s way until December 21, 2012, the day the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre gave a speech about good guys with guns stopping bad guys with guns, and it became clear the push to pass more gun control would have to be a fight.