Background checks, like concealed handgun reciprocity agreements, are how we enforce the laws already on the books about who can and cannot lawfully possess or hide a weapon. The plan targets small-scale gun sellers, who may conduct transactions from home, a gun show or via the Internet and aren’t required to hold a license or submit buyers’ names for federal background screening.
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Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head at a political event in Arizona on January 8, 2011, was also in attendance, as were relatives of victims from the June 2015 Charleston, S.C., church shooting.
Existing law exempts gun collectors and hobbyists from conducting a background check before selling a firearm. “Not to debate the last mass shooting, but to try to do something to prevent the next one”.
A more recent spate of gun-related atrocities, including in San Bernardino, California, shootings have spurred the administration to give the issue another look, as Obama seeks to make good on a policy issue that he’s elevated time and again but has failed until now to advance. The US was not inherently more prone to violence than anywhere else in the world, but the only advanced nation where gun violence was so frequent.
“President Obama’s executive orders will do nothing to improve public safety”.
He explained that his actions are “not a plot to take away everybody’s guns” but compared his push for gun control to steps the U.S. and businesses have taken to limit traffic fatalities, require fingerprints to unlock iPads and keep children from opening bottles of aspirin.
Left unsaid was the fact that developing regulations would have dragged out likely until Obama’s presidency ends and would have generated more opportunities for Republicans to intervene. I know a little bit about this.
Noting that two in three gun deaths is a suicide, Obama wants Congress to do more to fund access to mental health treatment. He noted that numerous actions he’s calling for can only be imposed through legislative action.
“Congress still needs to act”, Obama said. “The folks in this room will not rest until they do”.
Mr Ryan added that Mr Obama’s executive actions “will no doubt be challenged in the courts”.
“The good news is these are not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority and the executive branch, but they’re also ones that the overwhelming majority of the American people, including gun owners, support and believe in”, Mr. Obama argued from the Oval Office on Monday. Obama hopes that would expand the number of sales that are subject to background checks, including online sales and sales at gun shows.
In announcing the actions in the early days of 2016, Obama is purposely thrusting the issue into the center of the presidential campaign.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that contrary to the claims of some GOP presidential candidates, he’s not plotting to take away everyone’s guns. The American people deserve a president who will respect their constitutional rights- all of them.
“His words and actions amount to a form of intimidation that undermines liberty”, said the speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan.
Napolitano admonished Obama by stating that he should have used his power of persuasion with Congress if he wanted to have gun laws changed in the United States. He cited support for expanded background checks from Republican presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and many other Republicans like Sen.
Polls have shown most Americans back tougher gun laws.
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In addition to his speech today, the president will participate in a one-hour live town hall on gun control Thursday evening on CNN.
