IN his first major action of the new year, President Barack Obama announced new executive actions to address gun control and strengthen restrictions, amidst multiple mass shooting attacks that occurred nationwide last year.
In an emotional address on Tuesday, Jan. 5, the president made a passionate call for “urgency” to end gun violence.
“The United States of America is not the only country on earth with violent or dangerous people. We are not inherently more prone to violence–but we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency,” Obama said tearfully at a press conference, surrounded by families of gun violence victims.
“We become numb to it, and start thinking this is normal. And instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our polarized, partisan debates.”
The White House announced an executive action package, with multiple separate provisions to address major aspects of gun control policy. One provision would require more gun sellers (including those online or at gun shows) to be licensed, and oblige vendors to conduct extensive background checks on potential buyers, the Washington Post reported.
The initiative is the White House’s attempt to close the gun show “loophole” that allows gun collectors, private vendors and hobbyists to do business without background checks.
A recent Harvard University survey of more than 2,000 gun owners found that of those who purchased their most recent firearm, about a third did not undergo a background check.
In a statement emailed Monday, Jan. 4, the administration outlined the policy in line with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF): “It doesn’t matter where you conduct your business: from a store, at gun shows or over the Internet. If you’re in the business of selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks.”
With the extensive, thorough background checks, the FBI will also overhaul the current check system to make it effective, efficient with more staff and notifications, and background checks being processed 24/7.
“The new guidance is consistent with existing law because it clarifies its original intent,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “The hobbyist exemption in federal law was never meant to cover people regularly devoting significant time and effort to selling firearms just because they were doing so at a gun show.”
Obama has said that the strengthened background checks would make the process more secure, not harder for people to purchase guns. He has also criticized congressional Republicans for the lack of legislation, as well as the National Rifle Association, insisting that his actions are “not a plot to take away everybody’s guns.”
“I believe in the Second Amendment, there written on paper, that guarantees the right to bear arms,” he said. “But I also believe that we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment. Until we have the Congress that’s in line with the majority of Americans, there are actions within my legal authority that we can take to help reduce gun violence and save more lives.”
Along with the bolstered background checks, the White House announced more federal funding for mental health treatment and reporting. The Administration is proposing a new $500 million investment to increase access to mental health care, and a new rulemaking process for the Social Security Administration to include background information about individuals with mental health problems.
Another provision will require licensed gun dealers to report any lost and stolen guns to the National Crime Information Center. Over the past five years, an average of 1,333 guns recovered in criminal investigations each year were traced back to a seller who claimed the weapon was missing but did not report it to authorities, the White House said.
“This is a broad set of actions that tackles a variety of the issues related to gun violence,” said Arkadi Gerney, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, “and in combination it represents a comprehensive effort to strengthen the laws we already have on the books.”
The ATF has also established a new investigation center to keep track of illegal gun trafficking online, and promises to devote $4 million and additional personnel to improve the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. Additional research into gun safety technology will be directed by the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security.
“The ATF will assess each case individually,” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior Obama advisor involved in drafting the policy, reported the Los Angeles Times. “Agents will consider such qualifications as whether sellers represent themselves as dealers by taking credit card payments, handing out business cards, selling firearms quickly after acquiring them or selling them in the original packaging.”
Dodging the licensure rule can carry five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for gun sellers both online and at flea markets, said the Justice Department.
Republicans, presidential candidates, and gun rights advocates have already blasted the executive actions. “The president is at minimum subverting the legislative branch, and potentially overturning its will…this is a dangerous level of executive overreach, and the country will not stand for it,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), referring to the Senate rejecting Obama’s proposals in 2013 to overhaul gun laws, including running extensive background checks.
“The recent tragedies that have gripped our country are heartbreaking, but none of the unilateral restrictions President Obama is proposing would have prevented them, making his proposal all the more insulting and political,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. “The truth is, this executive overreach is all about burnishing the president’s legacy and boosting Democrat enthusiasm in a presidential election year. But that’s no excuse for subverting the will of the people’s representatives in Congress, and the American people won’t tolerate President Obama’s dangerous power grab.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called the president a “petulant child” acting “as if he’s a king, as if he’s a dictator.”
Speaking at a Christian bookstore in Iowa, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called the idea “illegal and unconstitutional.”
Obama has “waged war on the Constitution,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “You can pass all the gun laws in the world that you want. It will not stop the criminals.”
Meanwhile, Democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton applauded Obama during her campaign stop, saying that she would go even further implementing guidelines as president. “Our next President has to build on that progress, not rip it away,” Clinton tweeted.
A recent poll found support for an assault weapons ban to be below 50 percent, the lowest level in more than two decades, according to Politico. Gun sales also spiked after the San Bernardino attacks on December 2nd, 2015, as many Americans react to mass shootings with a desire for self-protection through firearms rather than more regulation of them, reported Mic News.
An analysis by IBISWorld also said that consumers have “increased their gun purchases,” particularly following the series of mass shootings that has generally increased the talk about gun control. The Gun and Ammunition Manufacturing industry reported a higher revenue at an estimated annualized rate of 6.4 percent, to $15.8 billion over the last five years up to 2016.
Polls have found a broad support for expanded background checks, according to CNN. In the Quinnipiac University poll from December, 89 percent of those surveyed said they overall support it, including 84 percent in gun-owning households.
In the CNN/ORC poll, 48 percent of Americans said they were in favor of stricter gun control laws, with a sharp partisan divide (74 percent of Democrats, 23 percent of Republicans in favor). Among those who live in a gun-owning household, 29 percent favor restrictions, and rises to 65 percent among households without guns.
“We have to be very clear that this is not going to solve every violent crime in this country. It’s not going to prevent every mass shooting,” Obama said from the Oval Office. “But it will potentially save lives and spare families the pain and extraordinary loss.”
Most of the president’s new initiative will be implemented through his executive authority to direct changes in federal agencies. The measures will go into effect without congressional approval.
