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Today's Poll!Obama unveils $500 million gun violence package
President Barack Obama signs executive orders outlining proposals to reduce gun violence Wednesday in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. Photo by The Associated Press.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — Braced for a fight, President Barack Obama on Wednesday unveiled the most sweeping proposals for curbing gun violence in two decades, pressing a reluctant Congress to pass universal background checks and bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.
A month after that horrific massacre, Obama also used his presidential powers to enact 23 measures that don’t require the backing of lawmakers. The president’s executive actions include ordering federal agencies to make more data available for background checks, appointing a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and directing the Centers for Disease Control to research gun violence.
But the president, speaking at White House ceremony, acknowledged the most effective actions must be taken by lawmakers.
“To make a real and lasting difference, Congress must act,” Obama said. “And Congress must act soon.”
Obama vowed to use “whatever weight this office holds” to press lawmakers into action on his $500 million plan. Still, even supportive lawmakers say the president’s proposals — most of which are opposed by the powerful National Rifle Association — face long odds on Capitol Hill.
The president was flanked by children who wrote him letters about gun violence in the weeks following the Newtown shooting. Families of those killed in the massacre, as well as survivors of the shooting, were also in the audience, along with law enforcement officers and congressional lawmakers.
“This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe,” Obama said. “This is how we will be judged.”
The president based his proposals on recommendations from an administration-wide task force led by Vice President Joe Biden. His plan marks the most comprehensive effort to address gun violence in more than two-decades.
The president is asking Congress to renew the ban on high-grade, military-style assault weapons that was first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994 but expired in 2004.
Other measures before Congress include limiting high-capacity ammunition magazines and requiring background checks for all gun buyers in an attempt to close the so-called “gun-show loophole” that allows people to buy guns at trade shows and over the Internet without submitting to background checks.
Obama also intends to seek confirmation for B. Todd Jones, who has served as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives since 2011.
The president’s long list of executive orders includes:
— Ordering tougher penalties for people who lie on background checks and requiring federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
— Ending limits that make it more difficult for the government to research gun violence, such as gathering data on guns that fall into criminal hands.
— Requiring federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
— Giving schools flexibility to use federal grant money to improve school safety, such as by hiring school resource officers.
— Giving communities grants to institute programs to keep guns away from people who shouldn’t have them.
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Comments
connor 4 months ago
Or in other words Obummer isn't going to do anything but politicize the deaths of children and spend even more money on pointless bureaucracy and data mining that won't ever be used or published because it shows things as they are. Which doesn't fit the Feminist/Liberal/Multi-Cult religious dogma.
Hopefully ammo and firearm prices will now go back to reasonable levels and we can actually find stuff we need in stock once again.
connor 4 months ago
Well real weapons enthusiast actually use their firearms and other missile weapons on a regular basis therefore require replacement ammo. That is totally different than writing stories about mythical deer hunts I know As a matter of fact my son and I cooked off about 500 rounds of 5.56 and a couple hundred .38 on the lovely Friday afternoon we had last week.
I like to keep enough components to press out a minimum of 1000 rounds for each major caliber I own and prefer 3K truth be told. I like to shoot and prices quadrupled on brass and factory ammunition went higher than that until it almost cannot be purchased period now in some places. The prices of my collection exceeded the standard insurance amount I have through the NRA as well if they had been re-evaluated using current crisis prices.
Also as for the Newtown shootings my comments certainly are not geared towards making the papers change their minds. American's should read the Russian and English press reports which include the relationship the mother had with the Principal and school shrink along with other administrators and onclude actual interviews with neighbors that are not edited. Paints an entirely different picture than the one the Lib-Fems are trying to portray and use.
I hear those facts will be coming out in the civil suit the parents are leveling now.
Paroquet 4 months ago
Capped about 5% of their firing life, eh? No doubt about it, you put your firearms through their paces. I'm cheap. I shoot to maintain proficiency. Besides, as I'm sure you are aware, everyone who shoots professionally knows that your best shot is your first one. After that, you know, the heat starts jacking with the metal and expansion can throw you off at extreme ranges. Doesn't matter much at 75ft, sure, but you get out to 400yds and that "little off" changes to total miss.
When I take game, I want it taken neat and clean. And truthfully, most of those shots are 80yds and under. I only rack a second shell as a courtesy. Never had to fire twice in the last 31yrs.
Oh, and BBC is a regular bit of the morning news for me.
I'm sorry, were you making a point? Let me guess, your other missile weapon has more than one string, cams, let-off weight, and sights right? Someone can be beaning bulls from zero to hero in less than a couple of hours and about two dozen shots with string-rifles like that. Try traditional archery. It's total buzz if you're a skill junkie, or a true disciple of the art of marksmanship.
connor 4 months ago
I never said how many rifles we used to sling those rounds down range now did I?
As for bows I don't own a compound anything. Long Bow (elm), re-curved Horn bow and a low poundage French reproduction crossbow that I can reload by hand. Never felt like getting into the harness and/or pully loading mechanisms.
I collect military rifles and weapons. Period. I bought my first AR because I wanted one as close to the one I was issued without breaking a non-constitutional law. So ya I gave a little there. I don't hunt except some black powder occasionally but I like to collect and shoot military firearms. I also think it is every man's duty to own a modern military serviceable rifle as well.
BTW an AR with a chromed bolt and barrel with a mil spec upper basically has no burnout rate. The normal heat wear and tear just does not apply when using chromed innards since the heat doesn't build up and shaving is kept minimal. You can also go with a more modern piston driven system to further lessen bore and barrel wear but those rifles take a few hundred rounds to break in properly and will eat brass until they are. I don't typically load hot anyway. Barrels are cheap regardless.
Before this fiasco I had 5.56 reloads down to less than .16 a round. Replacement of torn up or damaged brass today is running a minimum of .50 each just for the brass. Less than a year ago you could buy once fired brass for $69.00 per 1000, last week it was going for $100.00 per 500.
eileen10 4 months ago
Whew, You guys know your gun talk. I could hit the broad side of a barn but with the permanent vertigo I have I sure couldn't hit a running deer or elephant. Well, maybe an elephant.
BillyJoeRayBob 4 months ago
Damn if he didn't find a way to add another half billion to the federal deficit, instead of looking at what was already in place and not being done properly. Even if by some slim chance any of this was enacted into federal laws by Congress, they won't be properly enforced. They have only prosecuted a very small number of the individuals who lied on background checks. And let's collect more data - that's something the feds do well - more bean counters and analysts. Any grant money for school resource officers is going to peter out in a year or two when the dumbocrats decide they need more money for entitlement programs. Do you know anyone besides the Prez whose kids are protected at school by heavily armed Secret Service agents? What an elite pompous hypocrite.
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