The White House is heavily weighing the use of an executive order to expand background checks for gun buyers, two administration sources confirmed to CBS News.
The use of executive authority would allow the president to bypass Congressional gridlock to impose stricter regulations on gun dealers.
The new rule would require gun dealers who sell a large number of firearms to perform checks on potential buyers. Gun dealers would also need to be licensed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The White House is expected to come to a final decision on issuing the executive order soon.
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President Obama: "Our thoughts and prayers are not enough"
The consideration of the new rule comes as the president heads to Roseburg, Oregon Friday to offer his condolences to the families of the victims from last week's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College.
Mr. Obama, who has expressed mounting frustration over Congressional inaction on gun control, called last week for the partisan bickering to stop.
"Our thoughts and prayers are not enough," the president said last Thursday in a statement from the White House briefing room. "It's not enough. It 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."
The latest rule change was first considered in 2012, after a lone gunman opened fire and killed 20 schoolchildren and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
"As a country, we have been through this too many times," the president said the day of the Newtown, Connecticut shooting. "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."
The difference the new order could make is questionable. Many gun dealer sales are already covered by the president's previous executive actions which require sellers "in the business" of dealing firearms to have a federal license and perform background checks. The new order, however, would make clear what it means to be "in the business" of selling firearms.
The president has seen increasing gun-related violence over the course of his presidency and has addressed the nation nearly a dozen times after domestic mass shootings.
Early Friday, another school shooting occurred at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. One person was reported killed and three wounded.
CBS News' Major Garrett contributed to this report.
Post by downtoearth on Oct 9, 2015 12:30:59 GMT -5
I think I need to send an email to the White House in support of an executive action on this. Settle this at the national level and let the Supreme Court weigh in if needed!
Post by WanderingWinoZ on Oct 9, 2015 12:59:39 GMT -5
pretty pretty please!! I'd love to see this happen & let the whole GOP nominee field try to argue they'd take it away immediately & make them at least address gun control in some way.
I just called the White House. First I briefly babbled about gun nuts, then ended with, "I'm weighing in on the 'Do whatever it takes, Man' side of things!"
This is great. What kind of effect do you think this could have on electing another dem to the white house is 16 though? Not saying it shouldn't be done, just curious if we think this could have an effect on the election.
Post by iammalcolmx on Oct 9, 2015 13:07:56 GMT -5
They better be on point when protecting his life. If anything happens to the Negro President me and the rest of the Black Community will turn this Mutha out.
This is great. What kind of effect do you think this could have on electing another dem to the white house is 16 though? Not saying it shouldn't be done, just curious if we think this could have an effect on the election.
About the same effect that the shutdown had on the Tea Party, I'd imagine.
They better be on point when protecting his life. If anything happens to the Negro President me and the rest of the Black Community will turn this Mutha out.
This was, unfortunately, my first concern when I read this. I hope they double, no, triple his protection. Crazies are going to be crazy to the nth degree.
I'm glad he's doing something, but when most federal firearms brokers are already required to perform background checks, I really wonder what effect this will actually have.
Why can't he sign two EO's - one to close the background check loophole for gun shows and close the 3-days waiting list loophole + another to close the boyfriend loophole? Those things alone would prevent at the very least ~1500 homicides per year, off the top of my head. (I don't know how many guns purchased at gun shows are used in homicides, but the number of "boyfriend loophole" domestic homicide cases is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 a year).
I'm glad he's doing something, but when most federal firearms brokers are already required to perform background checks, I really wonder what effect this will actually have.
Why can't he sign two EO's - one to close the background check loophole for gun shows and close the 3-days waiting list loophole + another to close the boyfriend loophole? Those things alone would prevent at the very least ~1500 homicides per year, off the top of my head. (I don't know how many guns purchased at gun shows are used in homicides, but the number of "boyfriend loophole" domestic homicide cases is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 a year).
Forgive my ignorance but what is the "boyfriend loophole"?
I'm glad he's doing something, but when most federal firearms brokers are already required to perform background checks, I really wonder what effect this will actually have.
Why can't he sign two EO's - one to close the background check loophole for gun shows and close the 3-days waiting list loophole + another to close the boyfriend loophole? Those things alone would prevent at the very least ~1500 homicides per year, off the top of my head. (I don't know how many guns purchased at gun shows are used in homicides, but the number of "boyfriend loophole" domestic homicide cases is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 a year).
Forgive my ignorance but what is the "boyfriend loophole"?