The measures fall far short of what Obama had hoped to accomplish through legislation after a massacre at a Connecticut elementary school shook the country in 2012. Yet even the more modest steps the president will announce rely on murky interpretations of existing law that could be easily reversed by his successor.
Obama's actions ensure that gun rights — one of the most bitterly divisive issues in America — will be at the forefront of the 2016 presidential campaign, which begins in earnest next month with the first primary contests.
Accusing Obama of gross overreach, many of the Republican presidential candidates have vowed to rip up the new gun restrictions upon taking office. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said she was proud of Obama's efforts and promised she would safeguard them.
A spate of appalling mass shootings has inflamed passions in the U.S. over the subject of guns.
After 20 children and six educators were killed in Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut three years ago, Obama sought far-reaching, bipartisan gun legislation. When the effort collapsed in the Senate, the White House said it was thoroughly researching the president's powers to identify every legal step he could take on his own.
More recent gun-related atrocities, including in San Bernardino, California, have spurred the administration to give the issue another look, as Obama seeks to make good on a policy issue that he's elevated time and again but has failed until now to advance.
At the centerpiece of Obama's plan, to be unveiled at a White House event with gun violence victims, is a broader definition of gun dealers that the administration hopes will expand the number of gun sales subject to background checks. At gun shows, websites and flea markets, sellers often skirt that requirement by declining to register as licensed dealers, but officials said new federal guidance would clarify that it applies to anyone "in the business" of selling firearms.
They put sellers on notice that the government planned to beef up enforcement — including with 230 new examiners the FBI will hire to process background checks.
"This is not going to solve every violent crime in this country," Obama said. Yet he said the steps would "potentially save lives and spare families the pain of these extraordinary losses."
Public opinion polls show Americans overwhelmingly support expanding background checks for gun purchases, but are more divided on the broader question of stricter gun laws.
About a third of Americans live in a household where at least one person owns a gun. Particularly in rural areas where firearms are a way of life, many citizens do not believe gun laws should be made stricter. The reverse is true in urban areas, where majorities want tighter firearm regulations.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch and other top officials declined to explain why Obama hadn't taken these steps years ago and whether the administration had contemplated these actions in the past but determined Obama didn't have the authority.
"We're very comfortable that the president can legally take these actions now," said Lynch.
Under current law, only federally licensed gun dealers must conduct background checks on buyers, but many who sell guns at flea markets, on websites or in other informal settings don't register as dealers. Gun control advocates say that loophole is exploited to skirt the background check requirement.
Now, the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will issue updated guidance that says the government should deem anyone "in the business" of selling guns to be a dealer, regardless of where he or she sells the guns. To that end, the government will consider other factors, including how many guns a person sells, how frequently, and whether those guns are sold for a profit.
The background check provision rests in the murky realm of agency "guidelines," which carry less weight than formally issued federal regulations and can easily be rescinded. Lynch said the administration chose to clarify guidelines because it allowed the policies to be implemented immediately. Left unsaid was the fact that developing regulations would have dragged out likely until Obama's presidency ends and would generate more opportunities for Republicans to intervene.
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment