Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Earlier this week, President Obama announced plans to expand background checks and make other changes to America’s gun sales rules via executive action.
This new executive strategy of going around Congress has spawned renewed allegations of political overreach by the White House.
Under current law, only federally licensed gun dealers must conduct background checks on buyers, but many who sell guns at gun shows and flea markets, on websites or in other informal settings don’t register as dealers.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has issued updated guidance stating the government can consider someone a gun dealer regardless of where the guns are sold or the number of weapons in the transaction. In an attempt to prevent gun purchases from continuing to fall through the cracks, the FBI will hire 230 more examiners to process background checks, according to White House sources.
The FBI has a computerized system that can process background checks for many in seconds, but in instances where the FBI needs more time, the government only has three days before prospective buyers can return and buy the gun without being cleared.
Naturally, Republican presidential candidates wasted no time in criticizing President Obama’s announcement that he planned to take executive action to tighten gun control.
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump accused Obama of trampling on the Constitution, and vowed to reverse any actions that would, from his perspective, undermine the citizenry’s right to bear arms.
Trump boldly asserted: “Pretty soon, you won’t be able to get guns,” which is an absolute lie.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, another political outsider turned presidential hopeful, said she would not support an executive order to expand background checks for high-volume gun dealers.
According to Ms. Fiorina, “It is delusional, dangerous, not to mention unconstitutional for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to continue talking about climate change and gun control in the wake of a Paris terrorist attack or a San Bernardino terrorist attack, instead of how we can defeat ISIS.”
Governor Chris Christie offered the most delusional response of all. “Now this president wants to act as if he is a king, as if he is a dictator…this is going to be another illegal executive action, which I’m sure will be rejected by the courts and when I become President, it will be stricken from executive action by executive action I’ll take.” Truth be told, republicans have been a thorn in the president’s side since day number one, and repeatedly refused to consider any common sense measures in stem the tide of gun violence in the nation. President Obama is to be commended for finally taking executive action to circumvent this do-nothing Congress. The majority of Americans support legislative efforts to expand criminal background checks for gun purchases.
This is just another example of the republicans being completely out-of-touch with the American electorate and, squarely, in the pocket of the Nation Rifle Association (NRA).