WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will announce Tuesday from the White House a plan to circumvent Congress and act unilaterally on gun control, according to the administration.
Obama, who has been stymied on his gun reform efforts throughout his presidency, will outline his planned executive orders at 11:40 a.m. ET from the East Room, the White House said. “Building on the significant steps that have already been taken over the past several years, the President will discuss a series of commonsense executive actions,” according to a press release.
‘Gun show loophole’
Gun control advocates and White House officials say the focus remains on the so-called “gun show loophole,” which allows certain sellers of guns — at gun shows and elsewhere — to avoid conducting background checks before making sales.
Months after the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school massacre that claimed 26 victims in 2012, the then-Democratic majority Senate rejected a similar proposal.
Congress would still need to act in order to make background checks fully universal. But advocates and administration lawyers have struck upon a provision in the law that could allow for Obama to expand the background check requirement to additional sellers.
Federal law currently requires all individuals “engaged in the business” of selling guns to obtain a license and conduct background checks on buyers. But others who only make occasional sales or are selling firearms from a personal collection are exempted from the background check requirement.
Gun control advocates say Obama could take action himself by issuing a regulation that provides expanded guidance on who falls under the “in the business” standard.
One group, the Michael Bloomberg-helmed Everytown for Gun Safety, has provided recommendations to the White House that include creating a test for assessing who must become licensed to continue selling guns. Factors would include volume and speed of sales, and whether or not the seller relies on advertising to sell guns.
The group also recommended Obama define a gun in a “personal collection” as having been in the seller’s possession for at least a year.
Before leaving for his winter vacation in Hawaii, Obama met with Bloomberg at the White House to discuss gun control.
Aside from the background check provision, people familiar with Obama’s plans say his new gun control announcement will include new funding for government agencies to better enforce existing gun laws.
Other gun control advocates are pushing the administration to set an annual sales threshold of 25 guns for a seller to be defined as “engaged in the business” of selling guns, and thus required to obtain a license and conduct background checks.
That would be one of several factors used to determine whether or not a seller meets the definition of “in the business.” Others would include whether or not they advertise.
Aside from the gun-show loophole, advocates are anticipating the administration bolster regulations on the reporting of lost and stolen guns. Currently, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is only required to investigate a gun theft if 10 or more guns are stolen and one of them is used in a crime. The administration is expected to tighten those requirements by reducing the minimum number of guns stolen that would prompt an investigation, and potentially eliminating the requirement that one of the guns is used in a crime.
