GunsObama on Wednesday will outline executive action to curb gun violence
President Obama on Wednesday will outline steps the administration can take without congressional approval to curb gun violence in the United States. Vice President Joe Biden told congressional leaders that there are nineteen separate actions the administration can take by using executive power. The president will emphasize that these executive measures are not an alternative to legislative action, and he will also announce his plan to push through Congress the most comprehensive reform of gun laws in two decades.
President Barack Obama later this week will use one of his scheduled public events to announce a series of moves curb violence. The announced measures do not require congressional action, but he will make it clear that the executive measures should not be viewed as an alternative to legislative action.
White House sources said the president will outline nineteen actions the executive can take without congressional approval.
Among the actions the president could take without congressional approval are the imposition of new limits on guns imported from overseas, ordering federal agencies to improve sharing of mental health records, and directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct research on gun violence, according to those briefed on the effort.
The president will also call for more systematic enforcement of existing laws, including tougher prosecution of people who lie on their background checks.
The New York Times reports that in a Monday news conference on Monday, Obama said a task force led by Vice President Joe Biden had “presented me now with a list of sensible, common-sense steps that can be taken to make sure that the kinds of violence we saw at Newtown doesn’t happen again.” He added: “My starting point is not to worry about the politics. My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works.”
While the administration hopes that the mass shooting in Connecticut last month may have created a climate which would allow it to push through Congress the most comprehensive curbs on gun violence, the politics of gun control is unpredictable.
Opponents of measures to tighten gun laws said they would fight not only against new measures in Congress, but also against excessive use of executive power on the gun issue.
Representative Steve Stockman (R-Texas), said Monday to file articles of impeachment if the president seeks to regulate guns with executive orders. “I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary,” Stockman said.
The Times notes that White House officials said that there are clear limits to what the president can and cannot do, and that Obama has no plans to push beyond what he would need Congressional authority to accomplish.
Representative Jackie Speier (D-California), said Biden had informed lawmakers during a two-hour briefing on Monday that there are “19 independent steps that the president can take by executive order.” Speier said the executive action is part of the “most comprehensive gun safety effort in a generation.”
