President Barack Obama will be meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday [January 4, 2016] to finalize measures he plans on taking towards gun control.
Aware of Congress’ firm opposition to gun control, President Obama will act on his own as he plans to unveil these new executive actions in the coming week.
“The gun lobby is loud and well organized in its defense of effortlessly available guns for anyone,” Obama said on his weekly radio address. “The rest of us are going to have to be just as passionate and well organized in our defense of our kids.”
As part of his plan, Obama instructed administration officials to discover ways in which to curb gun violence without the help of lawmakers in Congress.
Currently, the law requires that all federally licensed dealers seek background checks on potential buyers, however, some who sell firearms are not licensed and do not perform background checks.
Those familiar with the President’s pending plans say the executive actions will include requiring more small-scale gun sellers to be licensed, expanding the amount of background checks. The executive actions are also expected to impose tighter regulations for reporting stolen or lost guns on their way to a buyer.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz says President Obama has asked his team to “scrub existing legal authorities” in order to create actions that could be taken administratively.
“The president has made clear that he’s not satisfied with where we are and expects that work to be completed soon.”
Though these actions are not as intense and forbidding as the measures Obama sought back in 2012 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, it’s clear that Obama is fixed on improving gun control with or without legislative support before he leaves office.
