Washington is bracing for one of the roughest political fights in memory: the new battle over gun control.

The National Rifle Association fired an opening volley on the eve of President Obama's announcement Wednesday of his new gun-control proposals. An NRA video on its web site calls Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for allowing Secret Service protection of his daughters at school but expressing skepticism about allowing armed guards in all schools, as the NRA is recommending.

"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" a narrator asks in the NRA's 35-second video. "Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school? Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he's just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security."

Obama recently told NBC's Meet the Press, "I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools. And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem."

In this Dec. 21, 2012, file photo, NRA president David Keene speaks during a news conference in Washington in response to the Connecticut school shooting. (Evan Vucci/AP)

The guns debate was prompted by the massacre of schoolchildren at an elementary school in Connecticut last month.