Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 08:12:59 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: 'Europe's oldest city' found in Cadiz
http://mathaba.net/rss/?x=566660
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

Tearful Obama Outlines Steps to Curb Gun Deaths

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Tearful Obama Outlines Steps to Curb Gun Deaths  (Read 440 times)
0 Members and 30 Guests are viewing this topic.
Kristina
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4558



« on: January 05, 2016, 11:29:59 pm »

Tearful Obama Outlines Steps to Curb Gun Deaths

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and MICHAEL D. SHEARJAN. 5, 2016


Obama on Newtown and Gun Control
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS on Publish Date January 5, 2016. Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »



WASHINGTON — As tears streamed down his face, President Obama on Tuesday condemned the gun violence that has reached across the United States and vowed to curb the bloodshed with or without Congress.

“In this room right here, there are a lot of stories. There’s a lot of heartache,” Mr. Obama said in the White House East Room, flanked by relatives of those struck down in mass shootings, including former Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. “There’s a lot of resilience, there’s a lot of strength, but there’s also a lot of pain.”

For all the emotion he showed, Mr. Obama nonetheless faces legal, political and logistical hurdles that are likely to blunt the effect of the plan he laid out.
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage

    A makeshift memorial on a chain-link fence outside the Inland Regional Center, where 14 people were killed last month.
    Gun Control Measures Meet With Skepticism in San BernardinoJAN. 5, 2016
    Handguns on display before a show at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock in February 2015.
    Obama’s Action on Guns: What It Means for Background ChecksJAN. 5, 2016
    About New York: Wear Orange Campaign Enlists Youth Basketball Players to Spread Message on Gun ViolenceJAN. 5, 2016
    President Obama and Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
    Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten EnforcementJAN. 4, 2016
    Ladd Everitt leading gun violence prevention activists in a protest this month outside the headquarters of the National Rifle Association in Fairfax, Va.
    State Focus and Infusion of Funding Buoy Gun Control AdvocatesJAN. 3, 2016
    Presidential Candidates on Gun ViolenceDEC. 4, 2015

A number of the executive actions he plans are only suggested “guidance” for federal agencies, not binding regulations. They were framed mostly as clarifying and enforcing existing law, not expanding it. And many of those measures rely on hefty funding increases that a Republican-led Congress is almost certain to reject.
Continue reading the main story
Graphic
Gun Sales Soar After Obama Calls for New Restrictions

More guns were sold in December than almost any other month in nearly two decades after President Obama called for new gun-buying restrictions.
OPEN Graphic

Among other measures, the plan aims to better define who should be licensed as a gun dealer and thus be required to conduct background checks on customers to weed out prohibited buyers.

Even the administration said it was impossible to gauge how big an effect the steps might have, how many new gun sales might be regulated or how many illegal guns might be taken off the streets.

“I don’t think anyone can credibly tell you yet what all this means,” Charles E. James Jr., a former federal gun crimes prosecutor who now represents gun industry clients, said of Mr. Obama’s plan.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch told reporters Monday that she could not say whether the new restrictions would have had any effect in a series of recent mass shootings, including last month’s attack in San Bernardino, Calif., that left 14 dead. But in the massacre of nine people at a South Carolina church in June, the man charged, Dylan Roof, was able to buy a .45-caliber handgun despite admitting to drug use. The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said at the time that a breakdown in the background check system had allowed Mr. Roof to buy the gun.

Advertisement
Continue reading the main story

Mr. Obama voiced irritation over the issue.
Continue reading the main story
Related in Opinion

    Editorial: The Hear-Nothing Gun Crowd JAN. 5, 2016

“Each time this comes up,” Mr. Obama said in his speech, “we are fed the excuse that common-sense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying. I reject that thinking. We know we can’t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence.”

Nearly 21 million gun sales were processed through the background check system in 2014, but some industry analysts say as many as 40 percent more firearms could have been sold through private transactions not subject to background checks. Even the most hopeful advocates say the new plan would affect only thousands of sales.

Proposals that would have the biggest effect have long been shelved by even the most ardent gun control advocates who now see an assault weapons ban or mandatory gun buyback programs like ones in Australia in 1996 and 2003 as political fantasy.

Advertisement
Continue reading the main story

Modest as the new measures may prove to be, the response was unrestrained. Republican presidential candidates and congressional leaders greeted them with peals of protests and angry claims of a “gun grab” that would violate Second Amendment rights. Gun control advocates hailed them as a breakthrough in what has often been a losing battle to toughen firearms restrictions.
Continue reading the main story
Graphic
How They Got Their Guns

Criminal histories and documented mental health problems did not prevent at least eight of the gunmen in 15 recent mass shootings from obtaining their weapons.
OPEN Graphic

The families of gun victims and gun control activists crowded into the White House and watched Mr. Obama break down as he recalled the young children gunned down by an assailant in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

“First graders,” the president said, his eyes drifting off and becoming red with tears. He wiped his face and paused to regain his composure: “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.”

By taking action, Mr. Obama is purposely stoking a furious political debate that has roiled Congress and spilled over into the presidential campaign. Vowing last year to “politicize” the gun issue after a mass shooting at an Oregon community college, Mr. Obama on Tuesday made good on that promise.

The National Rifle Association, targeted by Mr. Obama in his speech, mocked his tears.

“The American people do not need more emotional, condescending lectures that are completely devoid of facts,” said Chris W. Cox, the group’s top lobbyist.

Republican presidential candidates also raced to condemn Mr. Obama, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas putting up a web page with a menacing, altered picture of the president in a commando outfit. A caption read “Obama Wants Your Guns” next to a fund-raising appeal.

Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin posted his opposition on Twitter as the president spoke, saying Mr. Obama’s “words and actions amount to a form of intimidation that undermines liberty.”

But Mr. Obama’s allies were equally intense in their defense.

Dan Gross, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, posted on Twitter from the East Room: “President wiping tears. So am I. One of the most moving things I’ve ever seen.”
Photo
“There’s a lot of heartache” from shootings, the president said. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, posted a “thank you” to Mr. Obama for “taking a crucial step forward on gun violence.”

Mr. Obama’s plan is likely to face legal challenges from gun rights groups that accuse him of overstepping his executive authority. A number of critics said they suspected that the president’s push to “clarify” the definition of licensed gun dealers could force even the occasional gun seller to register their transactions.

Shortly before Mr. Obama’s remarks, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released guidance to gun sellers on the criteria that could qualify someone as a gun “dealer” who needs to be licensed and conduct background checks. Those criteria include having a website, using business cards or selling new guns in their original packages.

The 14-page pamphlet, posted on the agency’s website, offers examples to help guide sellers, such as “Bob,” who wants to sell a gun collection that he inherited (he would not need to be licensed) and “Sharon,” who sells guns at flea markets every weekend (she would need to be licensed).

Advertisement
Continue reading the main story

Advertisement
Continue reading the main story

But the administration rejected more aggressive options, such as establishing a defined threshold for the number of gun sales that would qualify someone as a dealer required to conduct background checks.

White House officials were mindful of the legal reversals sustained when the president tried to grant legal immigration status by executive action to five million immigrants in the country illegally, and they said they tried to make the gun plan as safe from legal attacks as possible.

“This is really pretty modest stuff,” said Ladd Everitt, the communications director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, an advocacy group.

Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, who attended Mr. Obama’s speech, said many police organizations had been pushing for more background checks on firearm purchases. While he praised Mr. Obama for taking action, he said more needed to be done.

“If Congress doesn’t allow for legislation, I think he went as far as he could using the bully pulpit,” Mr. Wexler said.

With Congress unwilling to act, many gun control groups have turned to states for changes, with 18 states now imposing some form of background check.
Report Spam   Logged

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Kristina
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4558



« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2016, 11:31:07 pm »

Report Spam   Logged

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson
Kristina
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4558



« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2016, 11:31:32 pm »

Report Spam   Logged

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson
Kristina
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4558



« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2016, 11:33:19 pm »

Obama’s Action on Guns: What It Means for Background Checks

By MICHAEL D. SHEARJAN. 5, 2016
Photo
Handguns on display before a show at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock in February 2015. Credit Danny Johnston/Associated Press

Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story
Share This Page

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday formally announced executive action on guns in an East Room ceremony.

Q. Will the president’s plan close the loophole that has allowed millions of guns to be purchased without criminal background checks at gun shows and online bazaars?

A. No. Federal law already requires that anyone “engaged in the business” of selling guns must be licensed and must conduct background checks on every purchase. The problem is that many sellers at gun shows and on firearms websites claim to be hobbyists who are exempt from those requirements. People who purchase guns from those sellers are not subject to criminal background checks.
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage

    President Obama said Tuesday of his proposal for expanded background checks that “maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence.”
    Tearful Obama Outlines Steps to Curb Gun DeathsJAN. 5, 2016
    About New York: Wear Orange Campaign Enlists Youth Basketball Players to Spread Message on Gun ViolenceJAN. 5, 2016
    President Obama and Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
    Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten EnforcementJAN. 4, 2016
    Ladd Everitt leading gun violence prevention activists in a protest this month outside the headquarters of the National Rifle Association in Fairfax, Va.
    State Focus and Infusion of Funding Buoy Gun Control AdvocatesJAN. 3, 2016
    President Obama will meet with Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch on Monday to discuss what he can do to curb gun violence.
    Obama to Consider Executive Actions on Gun ViolenceJAN. 1, 2016

Mr. Obama’s executive action does not expand the existing law. Instead, his administration has now “clarified” that people who claim to be hobbyists may actually be “engaged in the business” of selling firearms if they operate an online gun store, pass out business cards or frequently sell guns in their original packaging. The president’s action also reiterates that there are criminal penalties for violating the law.
Continue reading the main story
Graphic: Gun Sales Soar After Obama Calls for New Restrictions

Q. So, is the president ordering better enforcement of the existing laws to crack down on people who are selling without the proper licenses and background checks?

A. Yes, to the extent he can. He is asking Congress for funding to hire 200 new agents and investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, though that request may be denied by Republican lawmakers. Mr. Obama says the F.B.I. will increase the number of workers who process the background checks by 50 percent, or 230 people. He says that should reduce delays in a system that receives 63,000 background check requests each day. He also announced the eventual development of a more modern computer system that can process background checks 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Continue reading the main story
Graphic: How They Got Their Guns

The president is also seeking to close a loophole that has allowed people to avoid background checks when they buy and sell certain weapons — machine guns and sawed-off shotguns — by forming corporate entities and trusts to conduct the sales. A new regulation will clarify that those purchases require background checks.

Q. Are there other provisions of the president’s plan that would help keep guns out of the hands of criminals or mentally ill people?

A. Yes. The Social Security Administration will begin looking at how to link mental health records in its system with the criminal background check data. The Department of Health and Human Services is clarifying that health privacy rules do not bar states from reporting mental health records to the background check system. And Mr. Obama is requesting $500 million from Congress to improve basic mental health care.

In addition, Mr. Obama announced that the A.T.F. will spend $4 million to enhance a ballistics database that analysts use to link guns to violent crimes. He ordered the Defense Department, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to sponsor research into gun safety technology. And at Mr. Obama’s direction, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch wrote a letter to state officials to encourage reporting of criminal information to the background check system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/us/politics/guns-president-obama-executive-action-background-checks.html
Report Spam   Logged

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson
Kristina
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4558



« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2016, 11:34:32 pm »



 Handguns on display before a show at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock in February 2015. Credit Danny Johnston/Associated Press
Report Spam   Logged

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson
Kristina
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4558



« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2016, 11:34:55 pm »

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/12/09/us/gun-sales-terrorism-obama-restrictions-1449710314128/gun-sales-terrorism-obama-restrictions-1449710314128-master180-v6.jpg
Report Spam   Logged

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson
Kristina
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4558



« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2016, 11:35:03 pm »

Report Spam   Logged

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson
Vernon Guilley
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 286



« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2016, 09:01:08 pm »

It's every american's constitutional right to blow the crap out of everything, Obama! Course, he wouldn't know that since he's born in kenya! 
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy