PRESIDENT OBAMA TIGHTENS GUN RESTRICTIONS

By Tasha Matthews 

Photo courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov

January 5, 2016 (Washington D.C.) --President Barack Obama has taken executive action to tighten gun control, revealing some restrictions and heightened enforcement of firearms sales on Tuesday.  This is in response to the recent array of violent shootings taking place in the United States and Congress failing to pass any legislation to stem gun violence.

"This not a plot to take away everybody's guns," Obama said in a ceremony in the East Room. "You pass a background check, you purchase a firearm. The problem is some gun sellers have been operating under a different set of rules."  He stated that he wants to uphold the Second Amendment without overstepping his executive authority while doing something about "the new normal" of frequency of mass shootings. He wants to ensure that the guns don't fall into the wrong hands. 

President Obama got emotional when recalling the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 and how much damage people with guns can cause. With a tear in his eye, he paid tribute to the parents, some of whom gathered for the ceremony, adding that they never imagined their child's life would be cut short by a bullet. 

To put a personal face on the issue of gun violence, the White House assembled a cross-section of Americans whose lives were altered by the nation's most searing recent gun tragedies, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and relatives of victims from Charleston, S.C to Virginia Tech.

Mark Barden, whose son was shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School, introduced the President with a declaration that "we are better than this." 

Obama's package of executive actions aims to curb what he's described as a scourge of gun violence in the U.S., punctuated by appalling mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, Charleston, South Carolina; and Tucson, Arizona, among many others.

Over 4 million Americans have been victimized by gun violence in the last decade including assaults, robberies and other crimes. Over 30,000 Americans are killed by guns each year, including 20,000 suicides annually. In the past ten years, more than 18,000 children have lost their lives to guns, as well as 466 law enforcement officers.

The main point of Obama's plan takes aim at a sweeping definition of gun dealers who must conduct background checks on buyers.  Some gun dealers decline to register as licensed dealers at gun shows and online to avoid that requirement. 

Aiming to narrow that loophole, the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is issuing updated guidance indicating that the government should deem anyone "in the business" of selling guns to be a dealer, regardless of where he or she sells the guns. To that end, the government will consider other factors, including how many guns a person sells, how frequently, and whether those guns are sold for a profit.

Among the states that have laws requiring background checks for firearms are Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Hawaii, Colorado, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, and Delaware. Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina only require hand gun buyers to get background checks. The rest of the states don't have any required background checks on firearms that are being sold.

The President;s plan also increases mental health treatment and reporting with an aim to keep guns out of the hands of those who are mentally ill. It also beefs up enforcement of existing gun regulations, among other actions.

The White House said it has thoroughly researched the President's powers to identify every legal step he could take on his own when gun control efforts collapsed in the Senate despite the vast majority of the American public wanting action taken to stem gun violence, according to numerous polls. 

CNN reports that Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday called the President’s announcement “an assault on the Second Amendment.” He also faulted the President for taking action unilaterally, without support of Congress."You know, the system's supposed to be you get the Democrats, you get the Republicans, and you make deals. He can't do that.” Trump vowed that if elected, he will “unsign” President Obama’s orders.

The National Rifle Association also blasted Obama’s action.  NBC San Diego reports that the NRA issued a statement that  "the American people do not need more emotional, condescending lectures that are completely devoid of facts,” adding, “Men and women of the National Rifle Association take a back seat to no one when it comes to keeping our communities safe. But the fact is that President Obama’s proposals would not have prevented any of the horrific events he mentioned. The timing of this announcement, in the eighth and final year of his presidency, demonstrates not only political exploitation but a fundamental lack of seriousness."

But Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) said Obama was “left with no choice but to take executive action in order to save American lives...Americans are being gunned down in public places all across this nation while members of Congress go to work in buildings secured by police at every entry and do nothing because Republican leadership is afraid to stand up to the gun lobby.”

“While these actions are an important step in the right direction, they do not let Congress off the hook.” Peters said he’ll continue to voice his support for more gun control.

ABC News reports that Presidential Democratic Candidate Hilary Clinton also supports the President’s actions.  Clinton stated on Twitter "Thank you, @POTUS (President Obama), for taking a crucial step forward on gun violence. Our next president has to build on that progress—not rip it away." She also posted "@POTUS is right: We can protect the Second Amendment while protecting our families and communities from gun violence. And we have to." 

Whether  the executive orders President Obama is issuing to enforce gun controls will make a difference and prevent countless lives being lost remains to be seen—and may well hinge on the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.