According to the New York Times, the Obama Administration will not back down on its calls for comprehensive immigration reform that addresses all aspects of the issue, including provisions for high-skilled workers, students, and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who achieve legal status.

Bucking GOP calls for a piecemeal approach on the issue, the administration will insist on a holistic solution that includes the promise of citizenship in conjunction with punitive measures against undocumented immigrants, according to administration officials:

The president and Democrats will also oppose measures that do not allow immigrants who gain legal status to become American citizens one day, the officials said. [...]

Mr. Obama is expected to lay out his plan in the coming weeks, perhaps in his State of the Union address early next month, administration officials said. The White House will argue that its solution for illegal immigrants is not an amnesty, as many critics insist, because it would include fines, the payment of back taxes and other hurdles for illegal immigrants who would obtain legal status, the officials said.

The president’s plan would also impose nationwide verification of legal status for all newly hired workers; add visas to relieve backlogs and allow highly skilled immigrants to stay; and create some form of guest-worker program to bring in low-wage immigrants in the future.

Since President Obama won his decisive re-election with a staggering 75 percent of the Latino vote, conservatives have been undergoing a collective epiphany on the status of their relationship with the Latino community. Influential Republicans such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Colin Powell have called out the contemporary GOP on its borderline xenophobia and asserted that, barring significant changes, it will not be able to attract support from one of America’s fastest-growing demographics.

Still, that hasn’t stopped some Republicans — such as Rep. Steve King (R-IA) — from pursuing extremist policies such as an unconstitutional ban on birthright citizenship.

Gun sales skyrocketed at the end of 2012 after the tragic shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. The FBI conductedmore than 2 million criminal background checks ahead of gun purchases in December, according to the National Sports Shooting Association, representing a 58.6 percent increase over December 2011.

The National Rifle Association usually encourages Americans to purchase guns in the aftermath of an attack by spreading rumors of Democrats’ supposed efforts to restrict gun ownership. For instance, the NRA’s CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre once warned that Obama would confiscate “our firearms” and undermine America’s greatness. But on CNN’s State Of The Union Sunday, NRA President David Keene dismissed charges that the organization’s fearmongering is responsible for the spike in sales fand instead blamed President Obama and gun safety proponent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA):

CANDY CROWLEY (HOST): The accusation is that you are ginning up this conversation because it helps gun sales.

KEENE: The two people who are selling so-called assault rifles are Sen. Feinstein and President Obama, not us. They’re the ones that are scaring American gun owners. It isn’t the NRA.

Watch it:

While Keene may think American gun owners fear stronger gun laws, like the proposals that Vice President Biden’s gun violence prevention task force will likely release this week, even NRA members overwhelmingly support common-sense measures.

Keene dismissed policies that would limit the availability of assault weapons or high-capacity magazines, two proposals that are likely to be included in the recommendations of Vice President Joe Biden’s gun task force. “We don’t think any of those things work,” he said. “You should absolutely be able to compromise on things that accomplish the purpose. Our objection to those things is that they interfere with people’s rights without doing anything to solve the problem.” Biden is expected to send his report to the president on Tuesday.

Gun advocate Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners Of America, spoke out against expanding background checks for gun purchases during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, arguing that the proposal would provide Americans with a “false sense of security” and waste time. Instead, Pratt encouraged lawmakers to eliminate gun-free zones in schools and self defense.

The claim shocked host Chris Wallace, who pointed out that at least 40 percent of American gun sales occur without any screening. “What is wrong with the idea, if you get a gun whether you buy from a registered dealer or a private sale, that you have to go through background checks just in case, to find out whether somebody has one or has a mental health problem,” he asked:

WALLACE: So, let’s talk about universal background checks, because, I was surprised to find out…[that] in 40% of the sales there is no such screen on the person buying the gun. What is wrong with universal background checks?

PRATT: It is false security to think somehow we’ll spot problems when there’s really no way to spot these problems. Some of the most horrendous of the mass murders that have occurred recently including the one in Newtown would not have been stopped by a background check…And, so, to assume that this is going to be our firewall against…

WALLACE: I don’t think anybody is saying that it is a firewall. What is wrong with the idea, if you get a gun whether you buy from a registered dealer or a private sale, that you have to go through background checks just in case, to find out whether somebody has one or has a mental health problem?

PRATT: We are wasting our time and going in that direction when we should be talking about doing away with the gun-free zones which have been so convenient, such a magnet to those who would come and slaughter lots of people knowing no one will be legally able to defend themselves in these zones.

Watch it:

Under current federal law, licensed federal firearms dealers conduct background checks on gun purchasers to prevent dangerous individuals such as violent criminals or the mentally ill from obtaining weapons. Gun transfers, “private sellers” or transactions at gun shows or online are exempt from the requirement and as a result more than 6 million gun transfers are unscreened.

An overwhelming majority of the public and gun owners support requiring a criminal background check of every individual seeking to purchase a gun.