GunsWhite House finalizes executive actions on gun violence

President Obama signs 23 executive orders on gun control // Source: whitehouse.gov

The White House said President Obama is close to putting the final touch on several executive actions to address gun violence.

White Officials said that these actions should be viewed as a substitute to legislative action.

USA Todayreports that   the actions are designed to improve the background check system, law enforcement, and safety in schools. The White House issued a report on Tuesday which said the Obama administration has “completed or made significant progress” on twenty-one of the twenty-three executive actions the administration outlined in January as part of a wide-ranging gun control initiative (see “The president’s 23 executive actions to curb gun violence,” HSNW, 17 January 2013).

“But Congress must also act,” the report states. “Passing common-sense gun safety legislation, including expanding background checks and making gun trafficking a federal crime, remains the single most important step we could take to reduce gun violence.”

Tuesday’s report listed the executive actions the administration has already taken to reduce gun violence, including include restarting federal research on the causes of gun violence, reducing barriers which currently  prevent states from submitting certain records to the current background check system, and making it easier for  federal law enforcement agencies to trace guns recovered in investigations.

The report did not mention a ban on assault weapons or ammunition restrictions.