During an emotional speech at the White House, President Obama announced a series of executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence, an issue he’s been determined to address throughout his presidency.
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Obama said he believes reasonable steps can be taken to reduce, although not eliminate, mass shootings and gun violence without infringing on the Second Amendment, which he said he supports.
“There is a growing consensus, among gun owners and non-gun-owners alike, that we can strengthen our background check system without infringing on the rights of law-abiding Americans”.
The announcement came Monday after a meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey, and other law enforcement officials, in which they outlined their recommendations to the President.
President Obama vowed on Monday to use his executive power to press ahead with an initiative to combat gun violence, including expanding mandatory background checks, promoting smart-gun technology and hiring more Federal Bureau of Investigation examiners.
Obama’s plan to broaden background checks forms the centrepiece of a broader package of measures the president plans to take on his own on gun control in his final year in office. “How did we get to the place where people think expanded background checks is an excuse to take away people’s guns?”
‘The problem is, some gun sellers have been operating under a different set of rules’.
At the centerpiece of Mr Obama’s plan is a more sweeping definition of gun dealers that the administration hopes will expand the number of sales subject to background checks. That legislation would have closed loopholes that allow millions of guns to be sold without background checks at gun shows or in online firearm exchanges. But gun-control advocates say that many gun sellers who sell firearms in informal settings don’t register as dealers.
The White House said that the Social Security Administration had indicated that it would begin a rulemaking process “to include information in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm for mental health reasons”.
Obama wiped tears away as he recalled the 20 first-graders killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Even still, the more modest measures were sure to spark a confrontation with Republicans and gun rights groups that oppose new impediments to buying guns.
The legality of Obama’s executive actions, though, is expected to be challenged by Republicans.
“That changed me, that day”, he said, after being introduced by Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son was killed in the shooting. There’s a sharp partisan divide on the question, with 74 percent of Democrats in favor of stricter laws, while just 23 percent of Republicans feel the same way.
“The gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage right now, but they can’t hold America hostage”, he said. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Obama was acting within his “clear authority”, but echoed his call for Congress to finish the job.
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The former Florida governor also criticized Obama’s efforts to invoke executive actions on gun control in an a piece he penned for The Gazette.
