As President Obama urged Congress to quickly act on his new plans to deal with gun violence, there was little to suggest that lawmakers would drop everything and get cracking on an issue that is clearly the subject of a serious political divide over the Second Amendment.
"I thank the President's task force for its thoughtful recommendations," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who didn't exactly come out and vow to pass the President's plans.
"I am committed to ensuring that the Senate will consider legislation that addresses gun violence and other aspects of violence in our society early this year," said Reid, not naming any of the gun control issues laid out by the President.
Those plans include:
* A ban on assault weapons
* Background checks on all gun sales, even private ones
* 10 round limit for ammunition magazines
"Two weeks from today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin examining possible remedies for tragedies like last month’s shootings in Newtown," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who mentioned his support for the checks on all guns sales and the ammunition magazine limit, but not the assault weapons ban.
Overall, the debate about the President's plans on gun control broke along party lines, as one would expect in Congress.
"Unfortunately, the president is using Newtown tragedy to advance proposals that would do little to prevent such acts," said Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).
"I commend the President for taking immediate and concrete steps today to reduce gun violence," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX).
As for those in the middle, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was on Twitter defending himself, denying that he has agreed to any new gun controls in the wake of the Connecticut shootings, saying he has "consistently explained my position that we can't take a guns-only approach."
Manchin - who used a rifle to make an election commercial for himself a few years ago - had said in the aftermath of the Connecticut shootings that he would be open to some kind of gun controls, a statement that caused some criticism for him in West Virginia.
Meanwhile, as for the controversial executive orders that the President was going to make about guns, there was little that drew much attention at all, as most were simply promised "executive actions" for the future, not sweeping efforts for gun restrictions.
As for what will happen with the main gun control plans of the President, let's game it out a little:
Hearings start January 30 in the Senate - one would think they would go into February.
Will Senate Democrats move a comprehensive bill or piecemeal items?
How long will gun control advocates stand by and wait for action? The great thing about the Senate is that you can drop any amendment on any bill at any time.
Will some Senator get tired of waiting and try to force action on the assault weapons ban or other item?
As for the House, Republicans there will hold some hearings, but they won't act unless the Senate approves something.
In the meantime, the President and his allies will try to drum up public pressure on the Congress to act.
The polls indicate that American opinions have shifted on gun control in the last five weeks.
Whether that translates to the Congress, that's not so clear at this point in time.
