President Obama shed tears of frustration during his speech on gun violence yesterday. At the same time, militia men called on citizens to come armed to a siege of public land in Oregon and conservative politicians pulled out the same Second Amendment argument that is always used by politicians with an NRA- “A” rating. And Texas enacted a new law which allows nearly 1 million residents to openly carry handguns in public.
Few people would dispute that the gun lobbyists continue to have the upper hand in the nation’s legislatures, despite the fact that over the past decade, more than 100,000 people have been killed in the US as a result of gun violence.
Frustration aside, the president has chosen to use his final quarter to exert his executive power to enforce, clarify and tighten existing law. “Anyone in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks,” he said. This has been the law, continues to be the law, and will now be enforced in all commercial venues including the internet and gun shows with more modern and streamlined processes to make it effective, and will have the funding to enforce it.
All of this is done within the power of the executive branch responding to a public that is tired of being afraid, tired of the grief, tired of being held hostage by the gun lobby.
90% of the American public support universal background checks, including most NRA members!
While mass shootings with assault style weapons have become the catalyst for change, the daily killings, accidents, domestic violence incidents and suicides cause more deaths.
We applaud the president for looking for common sense ways to establish safer ways to address the escalating violence.
- No more loop holes — Universal background checks
- A stream-lined modern way to speed the checks and assure their accuracy.
- Funding for more workers for an FBI check system
- $500 million for mental health services. Suicide is much more common than gun rampages when guns get in the hands of mentally frail individuals.
All of this can be rolled out without the help from Congress.
Send a thank you message to President Obama for taking executive action on guns.