Obama to expand gun background checks and enforcement
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will announce executive actions Tuesday designed to expand background checks for some firearm purchases and step up federal enforcement of the nation’s gun laws, White House officials said Monday, once again trying to sidestep a gridlocked Congress on a politically divisive issue.
But faced with clear legal limitations on his authority, Obama will take modest steps that stop well short of the kind of large-scale changes to the gun trade that he unsuccessfully sought from Congress three years ago. That legislation would have closed loopholes that allow millions of guns to be sold without background checks at gun shows or in online firearm exchanges.
Instead, Obama will clarify that existing laws require anyone making a living from selling guns to register as a licensed gun dealer and conduct background checks. White House officials said the president would note that criminal penalties already existed for violating those laws.
Despite the limited nature of Obama’s executive actions, advocates on both sides appeared determined to describe them in sweeping terms for their own purposes. Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, said Monday that “pretty soon, you won’t be able to get guns,’’ while a news release from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence predicted that “history will be made in the East Room of the White House tomorrow.’’
Under his plan, the White House said officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would begin contacting gun sellers to let them know of new standards to “clarify’’ who would be considered a regulated dealer — taking into account factors such as whether someone has a business card, uses a website, or sells guns in their original packaging.
The changes are particularly meant for online gun merchants, who often avoid conducting background checks despite making high-volume gun sales through websites like armslist.com.
Obama will hire more personnel to process background checks in a timely manner, direct officials to conduct more gun research, improve the information in the background check system, encourage more domestic violence prosecutions and order better tracking of lost guns. He will also make it easier for states to provide mental health information to the background check system, which could bar a gun sale.
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