'SNL' Gun-Control Sketch, April 13, 2013
Bill Hader, left, Jason Sudeikis, center, and Jay Pharoah appear in the "Saturday Night Live" gun-control sketch this weekend. Hulu

“Saturday Night Live” took on gun control in a brilliant cold opening this weekend. In the “SNL” gun-control sketch, Bill Hader, Jay Pharoah and Jason Sudeikis skewered the U.S. Congress’ lack of progress on the gun control debate alongside the country’s unwillingness to talk about the larger issue.

Pharoah began with a convincing impersonation of President Barack Obama, excitedly announcing that Congress has voted to maybe start thinking about considering the possibility of gun control.

“My fellow Americans, as you know, over the past few months, I have made gun control a top priority,” Pharoah-as-Obama said. “Which is why I’m so excited to announce that this week, the Senate voted 68 to 31 to begin debating the idea of discussing gun control. Let me say that again, they've agreed to think about talking about gun control .., amazing.”

After this opening statement, Pharoah-as-Obama introduced Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., (played by Sudeikis) and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., (played by Hader) by describing exactly how much the two legislators stand to lose by discussing gun control.

“Senator Manchin represents West Virginia, and he’s proposing gun reform? He’s gonna lose his job. And Senator Toomey is a Republican willing to make just the slightest compromise on gun control? He’s gonna lose his job, too,” Pharoah-as-Obama said in the sketch.

Possible gun-control ideas discussed by Sudeikis-as-Manchin and Hader-as-Toomey included private gun sales requiring a seller to ask buyers whether they are good people, banning AK-47s from vending machines and making it illegal to fire three or more guns at once.

“Unfortunately, the punishment is that we give you a fourth gun. I don’t know how that happened,” Sudeikis-as-Manchin quipped.

Watch the “SNL” gun-control sketch below, courtesy of Hulu.