The President blasted the gun lobby, particularly the National Rifle Association, and insisted that his actions are “not a plot to take away everybody’s guns”.
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The departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security will review the availability of smart gun technology on a regular basis and will explore potential ways to improve gun safety.
“We maybe can’t save everybody, but we could save some”. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Obama was acting within his “clear authority”, but echoed his call for Congress to finish the job. We are working with advocates to protect victims of domestic abuse from gun violence, where too often people are not getting the protection that they need. Other provisions aim to better track lost or stolen guns and prevent trusts or corporations from buying unsafe weapons without background checks. Under current law, only federally licensed gun dealers must conduct background checks on buyers.
Also, the orders expand background checks to make them more efficient and update an outdated system.
Mental health records will be submitted to the background check system. The group seeks to prevent gun-related deaths through the enactment of what it calls “sensible gun violence prevention laws, policy and regulations”.
Whether that step can make a significant dent in unregulated gun sales is an open question, and one not easily answered. Clinton and Obama both treaded carefully on guns when they faced off in the 2008 Democratic primary, and the president didn’t attempt to pass congressional legislation until the shooting of elementary school students in Newtown, Connecticut, which occurred about a month after his 2012 re-election. Obama circled back to that shooting in the final moments of his speech.
President Barack Obama wiped away tears remembering the first-graders killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School as he announced his executive actions on gun control Tuesday. We are not inherently prone to violence.
The president went on to name cities around the country that have mourned the loss of life in other mass shootings. Chuck Schumer – shared hugs with several people affected by gun violence during the event inside the East Room of the White House. “I think it’s disgusting what he’s done”, Irvine said. “And instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized, partisan debates, despite the fact that there’s a general consensus in America about what needs to be done”.
“We do have to feel a sense of urgency about it. In Dr. King’s words, we need to feel the fierce urgency of now, because people are dying”, he said.
“None of us can do this alone. We must use every tool at our disposal, including the power of the purse and, if necessary, the pursuit of legal action, to put a check on this unconstitutional overreach”, she said. “President Obama made a promise as an elected official and a promise as a father that he would do everything in his power to make our communities safer”. He says that wasn’t the first time he had to talk to the nation following a mass shooting, nor would it be the last.
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Response to the president’s speech was immediate. “I think he’s doing what the American people would like him to do”. No president should be able to reverse legislative failure by executive fiat, not even incrementally.
