Obama moves to require background checks for more gun sales

Bypassing a Congress unlikely to pass his legislation, Obama intends to issue the laws as executive actions in a show of power in his a year ago in office.

Stymied by Congress’ inaction on gun control, the president asked his advisers in recent months to examine new ways he could use his executive authority to tighten gun rules unilaterally without needing congressional approval after multiple mass shootings generated outrage nationwide.

After his meeting with Lynch and Comey, the president lauded the recommendations provided to him by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Monday, but he acknowledged any executive orders won’t prevent all gun violence in the United States.

But as my colleague Mark Follman wrote Monday, that clarification won’t be enough: “Expanding background checks through a broader interpretation of current federal law still won’t close the so-called gun show loophole; hundreds of thousands of firearms will continue to be bought and sold with minimal regulation, both online and in person”. Currently, only federally licensed gun dealers must conduct background checks on buyers.

President Barack Obama is announcing a series of executive actions created to combat gun violence, including a regulatory change created to make it harder for gun buyers to avoid background checks. The president added the received recommendations on gun control are well within his legal authority and will potentially “save lives”. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, for instance, have already vowed to reverse the executive actions if either is elected president in November.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he wasn’t sure exactly what Obama would announce, but dismissed it as an attempt to divide the country and distract from Obama’s “failed policies” to address terrorism. The administration is expected to require more people to register as dealers by altering the criteria, such as the number and frequency of guns sold, whether sellers profit off sales, whether they advertise, rent space or tables at gun shows and pay taxes.

In addition to giving a speech Tuesday outlining the plans, President Obama will participate in a one-hour live CNN town hall on gun control on Thursday night at George Mason University.

Obama, who has been stymied on his gun reform efforts throughout his presidency, will outline his planned executive orders at 11:40 a.m. ET from the East Room, the White House said.

“Of course, you know guns don’t kill people, people kill people, so if we control some parts of that I think the violence will come down a little bit, so I think that is a good thing”, said Walker. “The fact is if he wants to make changes to these laws, go to Congress and convince the Congress that they’re necessary”.

Republican presidential hopefuls are also taking shots at the president.

Most gun owners agree that the right to own a firearm comes with a lot of responsibility.

In 2008, the US Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment of the Constitution protects the rights of individual Americans to keep and bear arms, but said gun sale laws imposing conditions on the sale of weapons can be consistent with it.