Obama considers executive action on gun control: What steps could he take?
Three shootings on college campuses this month, have prompted聽President Obama to look again at going around Congress and issuing executive orders that would place stricter limits on both the sale and possession of firearms.
This week, there were shootings at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, in which one person was killed and three were injured, and at Texas Southern University (TSU) with one fatality and one person injured. Those fatal shootings come on the heels of 聽the violence at Umpqua Community College (UCC), where Mr. Obama visited the families of victims on Friday.
Immediately following the UCC shooting, which left nine dead and nine others injured, 聽Obama had expressed his anger regarding the nation鈥檚 lax gun laws.
鈥淎s I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough,鈥� . 鈥淚t does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America.鈥�
Obama has issued during his presidency: 147 during his first term, and 72 so far during his second. In the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook, Conn.,聽shooting, where 20 children and six adults were killed, the national debate about gun control prompted Obama to issue .
, they expanded background-check requirements and placed stricter enforcements on the prosecution of violent gun-related crime. However, a notable bill, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 that would have gone beyond Obama鈥檚 initial efforts, failed to gain the support from both congressional Republicans and Democrats it would have needed in order to become law.
One of the聽 Obama is considering would partially close what is known as the 鈥済un-show loophole,鈥� by defining anyone who sells a certain number of guns - between 50 to 100 - at gun shows or online as a commercial seller. The change in status would require these sellers to perform background checks on potential buyers before they make a sale.
This step, via presidential fiat, was also in聽Hillary Clinton's gun-control plans聽announced last week.聽
As The Washington Post notes:
The current federal statute dictates that those who are 鈥渆ngaged in the business鈥� of dealing firearms need to obtain a federal license 鈥� and, therefore, conduct background checks 鈥� but exempts anyone 鈥渨ho makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.鈥�
The Post article goes on to say:
Arkadi Gerney, senior vice president at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, said tightening the definition of who is 鈥渆ngaged in the business鈥� of selling guns 鈥渋s a meaningful but modest step towards the goal of ensuring that all gun sales involve a background check.鈥�
National Rifle Association spokeswoman Jennifer Baker, by contrast, said any change was unnecessary and could 鈥渆nsnare鈥� people not intended to be covered by the law, such as a widow selling off her late husband鈥檚 gun collection. 鈥淧eople who repeatedly sell large volumes of firearms are already covered in the current statute because they are already defined as 鈥榚ngaged in the business,鈥櫬犫�� she said.
But Obama continues to face criticism from gun-control groups that want him to go around Congress and take executive action.
鈥淲e have traveled here from across the nation to challenge you to stop whining about the power you don鈥檛 have, and start acting with the power you do have,鈥� said . Bishop Miles is a leader in the Industrial Areas Foundation's (IAF) national network of interfaith, interracial community organizations.
The IAF wants Obama to put pressure on gun manufacturers, and should have the clout to do so since the US government is a major purchaser of firearms.聽The IAF wants the gunmakers to self-police the distribution and sale of their guns sold by dealers who consistently sell guns used in crimes, and they want firearms manufacturers to develop new, safer "smart gun" technologies.
While the majority of , this is a highly charged and complex political issue. Obama got another reminder of that when he traveled to Roseburg, Ore., on Friday to meet with the families of the victims of the UCC shooting, he , 鈥淲e're going to have to come together as a country, but today is about the families.鈥�
Upon his arrival in the area, he was who felt that he was using the visit as a political move. The National Rifle Association also continues to respond with frustration at what they feel are threats to the Second Amendment. 聽
"This is a super-complicated policy," one administration official familiar with Obama鈥檚 proposals .
