After weeks of threatening to take executive action on gun control, President Obama is meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch next week to make good on that 2016 priority. During his weekly radio address, the president said it was time to take action because Congress has failed to move:
“A few months ago, I directed my team at the White House to look into any new actions I can take to help reduce gun violence,” he said in the recorded address. “And on Monday, I’ll meet with our Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, to discuss our options.”
The president continued to say that the countless letters he’s received from concerned citizens were another factor that urged him to act.
His administration did not offer specifics regarding what the president’s executive order will include, but, according to The Washington Post, he will expand new background-check requirements for buyers who purchase firearms from high-volume gun dealers.
Mass shootings in the past few years have often been followed by the president’s pledging to scale back Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Most recently, after the San Bernardino tragedy, Obama even addressed the American public from the Oval Office – a rarity for the president – to insist they will destroy the terrorists responsible, but also reiterate his plans to take concrete steps toward gun control.
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Despite his best efforts, Obama has turned out to be gun dealers’ best salesman. The number of firearms purchased during his two terms has now eclipsed 100 million.
That doesn’t mean the president will slow down anytime soon. Expect Obama to announce his plans to give a facelift to America’s gun laws next week – and expect a swift response from the NRA.
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