That epigram might have made John F. Kennedy's speechwriters beam. But it is ludicrous to hear such a comment from a president who has spent almost seven years fear-mongering to promote one federal power grab after another.

Mr. Obama has done more than any other president to sway Americans to perceive all gun owners as threats to public safety. The president declared, "Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun." But the no-fly list has long been a parody of due process: Federal Judge Anna Smith ruled last year that it was unconstitutional and recognized that "international travel is a necessary aspect of liberties sacred to members of a free society." Mr. Obama's proposal is especially perilous to freedom because his administration is placing innocent Americans on the no-fly list based solely on a hunch that they might someday commit violence.