Obama Unveils Sweeping Gun Safety Proposals (Video)
whitehouse.gov
(Washington, DC) – In response to the school shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama is unveiling a sweeping package of gun safety proposals.
President Obama is unveiling a sweeping package of gun safety proposals in response to the school shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. In a White House event, Obama signed 23 executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence. He said Congress must also act. Obama urged lawmakers to pass legislation on “universal background checks” for gun purchases. He called for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips. The President was joined by children who wrote letters to him about gun violence.
The President called gun violence an epidemic in the U.S. He argued that sensible gun regulations can be approved without violating constitutional protections on gun ownership. Vice President Joe Biden, who chaired a White House task force on gun safety, opened the event and called the Newtown tragedy “senseless.” He stressed that the U.S. government has a moral obligation to do everything possible to reduce gun violence. Biden said, quote, “the world has changed and it is demanding action.”
President Obama called on parents, law enforcement officers and community leaders to pressure Congress to approve his legislative proposals. Any new gun controls will face stiff opposition in the Republican-led House and from the powerful firearms industry. Centrist Democrats from conservative districts and states are also reluctant to embrace new gun regulations.
Here is a list, provided by the White House, of executive actions President Obama plans to take to address gun violence.
1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
11. Nominate an ATF director.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
President Obama is announcing stricter background checks and an assault weapons ban as part of proposals to stem gun violence.
{Guns0116Obama1} Q…off any longer. :11.9
Obama made the announcement at a White House event attended by children who wrote letters to the president about school safety. The NRA is already marshalling opposition to Obama’s proposals.
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