Bloomberg anti-gun group presses Obama to take executive actions

Just a day after a mass shooting at a community college in Oregon last week, President Obama told reporters that he had asked his staff to “scrub” the government’s existing gun laws to see what might be done to prevent massacres.

On Monday, a group whose goal is to prevent gun violence will release a report urging the administration to issue a series of regulations that would clarify existing laws in an effort to reduce gun-related crimes.

The group, Everytown for Gun Safety, writes that Mr. Obama could help protect potential gun victims from attackers, especially in cases of domestic abuse, by encouraging five relatively small changes to the way the federal and state governments interpret laws that are already on the books.

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John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety ... said the administration could carry out his group’s recommendations without action in the gridlocked Congress.

The group says the Justice Department should make it clear to law enforcement agencies that federal laws prohibiting gun purchases by anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse also apply in cases where an abuser is not married to the victim. Current law bans gun purchases by those convicted of abuse if the victim is “similarly situated to a spouse,” but those running background checks often do not understand what that means, the group says in the report.

At a news conference on Friday, Mr. Obama said he had asked his staff: “Are there additional actions that we can take that might prevent even a handful of these tragic deaths from taking place?”

White House aides noted Sunday that the president had taken 23 executive actions on gun violence after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. And they said he was willing to consider other steps as well.

In focusing on firearms dealers, the authors of the report urge the administration to help states track background checks between unlicensed gun sellers and their buyers.

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The federal government should also clarify the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which prohibits the possession of a gun within 1,000 feet of a school, the group writes. It was signed into law by President George Bush in 1990.

That law exempts people who have a “qualified” state permit to carry a gun. But the group says it is not clear what kind of permit qualifies for an exemption. In some states, a permit-holder does not need to pass a background check, a loophole that should be closed, it says.

The group, which joined with a gun control organization founded by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City and another group formed in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, claims more than three million supporters. [must be based on FaceBook likes]

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Campaigning in New Hampshire on Sunday evening, Martin O’Malley urged the leaders in the public opinion polls, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to support a series of gun control measures that he has proposed.

Mr. O’Malley, whose speeches have been met with praise from Democrats but who has been struggling to gain traction, has repeatedly raised the issue of gun control, particularly since the shooting of nine black congregants at a church in Charleston, S.C., in June. He has called for, among other things, reinstating the expired federal ban on assault weapons.

But his calling out of Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton by name comes after the shooting at a community college in Oregon on Thursday in which a gunman killed nine people. And it comes nine days before the first Democratic debate in Nevada, where he is set to share the stage with them.

Mr. O’Malley has sought to draw a contrast between himself and these two candidates on the issue, particularly between himself and Mr. Sanders, the Vermont lawmaker whose record on gun control has been criticized as too soft by some Democrats. But his support for reinstating the ban on assault weapons has come as others, including Mrs. Clinton, have not made such a direct call.

Citing his experience as the mayor of Baltimore, a city that had a high gun crime rate when he came into office, Mr. O’Malley said his plan would be to “cut gun violence in half in the next 10 years in the United States.” [he needs the 10 year horizon given that people can point to FSA 2013 and show that it's done absolutely nothing other than infringe on the rights of others]

In New Hampshire, Mr. O’Malley called for fingerprinting and licensing for every person who purchases a gun and for changing the laws so that trafficking illegal guns is a federal crime. He also urged the federal government to refuse to buy guns from manufacturers that do not use all safety technology available, such as micro-stamping. [maybe he's looking for a job at JHU funded by Bloomberg after his campaign fails - at least the US will be aware of the MD fingerprinting and license requirement for handgun purchases]

“I know that not everyone in this room has made a decision about what candidate you will support,” Mr. O’Malley said. “But I also know this is New Hampshire and that some of you have. So I’m asking supporters of Senator Sanders to please urge Senator Sanders to back these four common sense provisions that I just laid out to reduce gun violence. And I am asking the supporters of Secretary Clinton to please urge Secretary Clinton to back the specific provisions that I just laid out. And I’m asking both Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton, Governor Chafee, all of those in our race, to join me in building a new consensus.”

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fidelity said:

With every mass shooting, Martin O'Malley sees opportunity for political gain and to of course push additional useless gun control laws ... almost as if he is working in coordination with the Bloomberg groups ...

Martin O’Malley Presses Rival Democrats to Support His Gun Control Measures

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“We banded together. We drove consensus,” O’Malley told a gathering of the Strafford County Democrats as he recalled legislation passed in Maryland in 2013. “We need to apply the same persistence today as a nation.”

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“We had huge crowds descend on Annapolis. Practically closed down the hallways,” he told the gathering of more than 100 Democratic activists here.

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On the heels of the nation’s latest mass shooting, Hillary Rodham Clinton will issue proposals on Monday to curb gun violence, including holding out the potential of using executive actions.

Mrs. Clinton, a Democrat, will announce the new proposals in separate town-hall-style events in New Hampshire, a state with a Democratic senator who has voted for some gun-control measures but where there is a thriving gun and hunting culture.

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The proposal most likely to generate controversy is using executive action to close the so-called gun show loophole, if efforts to pass new measures in Congress do not succeed, according to a campaign aide to Mrs. Clinton, who asked for anonymity to lay out the plans before the candidate does.

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A central issue in Mrs. Clinton’s proposals are the background checks on prospective gun buyers, which are required for retailers at stores. But under federal law, they are not required at gun shows or over the Internet with private sellers.

Under Mrs. Clinton’s plan, she would use administrative powers to make anyone selling a substantial number of guns declared “in the business” of firearms dealing, and subject to the same rules as retailers, if Congress does not act, according to the campaign aide.

It was not immediately clear what the bar for being declared “in the business” would be. And use of executive action in connection with guns is certain to face criticism from staunch supporters of the Second Amendment. It is also likely to be applauded by Democrats who have grown weary of gridlock in Congress.

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Mrs. Clinton will suggest urging Congress to end another loophole, by which people with felony records who should be barred from obtaining a gun can get one if their background check is not completed within three days. That loophole was how Dylann Roof, the accused killer in Charleston, obtained his weapon despite a felony conviction for a drug arrest.

Since the Charleston shooting, Mrs. Clinton has frequently talked about gun control, but her comments have grown stronger. On Friday, a day after the shootings in Oregon, Mrs. Clinton said she wanted to lead a “national movement” that would counter the National Rifle Association.

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Jim12 said:

This is a convenient and timely distraction from the facts that the Democrat leadership have driven the nation and world economically to the brink of a global recession, and politically toward WW III.

More businesses are closing than opening, there are more people employed by government than in manufacturing, and there are more people living on government assistance than ever. The alleged 5.1% unemployment rate is doctored. The real number is much higher, and that doesn't include underemployed.

We just turned the Middle East over to Russia and jihadists, and abandoned Israel, while causing a flood of refugees into Europe.

Of course they want to talk about gun control, to distract everyone.

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fidelity said:

Hillary Clinton now joins the chorus on executive actions to increase gun control ... including treating those of you that sell a few guns in the MDS classifieds or at gun shows as gun dealers ...

To Curb Gun Violence, Hillary Clinton Has a Plan for Possible Executive Action



Out of curiosity, has any of the mass killers bought a firearm used in a crime at a gun show? You know those often searching for deals on 22LR? Or perhaps on a Mosin Nagent or other classic/old rifle?

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Socrates Verona, N.J. 3 hours ago

The 2nd Amendment is very clear:

"The right to be randomly slaughtered by a mentally imbalanced male SHALL NOT be infringed".

GOP 2015​

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Jim12 said:

This is a convenient and timely distraction from the facts that the Democrat leadership have driven the nation and world economically to the brink of a global recession, and politically toward WW III.

More businesses are closing than opening, there are more people employed by government than in manufacturing, and there are more people living on government assistance than ever. The alleged 5.1% unemployment rate is doctored. The real number is much higher, and that doesn't include underemployed.

We just turned the Middle East over to Russia and jihadists, and abandoned Israel, while causing a flood of refugees into Europe.

Of course they want to talk about gun control, to distract everyone.

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EL1227 said:

Actually, gun-control is a two-fer ... a distraction from the current state of the economy and the world for sure, but also a way to prevent effective self-defense when the SHTF, making us more dependent on an oppressive gov'mnt ... and considering what they want to distract us from is a REAL possibility.

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fidelity said:

The CNN Democratic Debates are on Tuesday, October 13. Watch them compete on this topic to assail the Republicans with the moderators' help.

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EL1227 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they brought 'visual aids' like DiFi ...

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fidelity said:

Hillary Clinton now joins the chorus on executive actions to increase gun control ... including treating those of you that sell a few guns in the MDS classifieds or at gun shows as gun dealers ...

To Curb Gun Violence, Hillary Clinton Has a Plan for Possible Executive Action



Out of curiosity, has any of the mass killers bought a firearm used in a crime at a gun show? You know those often searching for deals on 22LR? Or perhaps on a Mosin Nagent or other classic/old rifle?

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Clinton’s new plan, which she will discuss on the campaign trail today, includes a raft of ideas: closing loopholes in the background check system; more aggressive action to revoke the licenses of gun dealers who knowingly supply so-called “straw purchasers”; and repealing a law that protects gun manufacturers from liability for gun violence.

But the most controversial aspect of Clinton’s plan is this: She vowed to take executive action to partly close the loophole that allows private sellers to peddle guns without a background check if Congress doesn’t.

Clinton’s campaign says that this could theoretically be accomplished via a new rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that would more clearly define what it means to be “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. Gun control advocates point out that under federal law, those “engaged in the business” of selling firearms must perform background checks, but federal regulations defining that phrase are too vague, allowing too many gun sales to proceed without such a check. Such federal regs, they say, could be changed through executive action that, for example, would set a clearer threshold defining “engaged in the business” of selling firearms in terms of the number of guns sold.

Arkadi Gerney, a gun policy expert at the Center for American Progress, tells me what Clinton’s new policy proposal means:

“The statute says that anyone engaged in the business of selling firearms must apply for a federal license. Like any other statute where it’s vague, there’s the potential to define it further. You could update the regulation and have a more clear threshold. You couldn’t say, we define ‘engaged in the business’ as anyone who sells a gun ever. But you could change the regulation to be more focused, more narrow, and less vague than it currently is, which makes it very hard to prosecute people who abuse the law and are selling tens and hundreds of guns as private sellers.

“One way you could do this would be to have a clear numerical threshold on the number of gun sales.”​

But if Clinton could do this as president, couldn’t Obama do this by executive action right now? Gerney thinks the answer is Yes:

“Clinton’s idea of clarifying further what kind of gun sellers are engaging in business and need to get a license to sell guns is a smart one. She’s right that the President can do more to define the current law on what level of gun-selling activity triggers the requirement to conduct background checks. And, by putting this idea forward it is something of an implicit challenge to the current administration to move forward along these lines.”
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More on this later, but this raises new questions: Is Obama, who has been visibly frustrated by government inaction, thinking of undertaking such an executive action? Will Clinton’s public vow to undertake such action raise the pressure on the administration to do the same?

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K31 said:

You can get aids just from looking at her?

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EL1227 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they brought 'visual aids' like DiFi ...

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whistlersmother said:

If Dem$ want people selling privately to "be in the business" and to get a FFL, me thinks that could backfire.

FFLs in MD can get standard cap mags and banned long guns. And what about new machine guns as samples?

A few million new FFLs can't be a bad thing...

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fidelity said:

I wouldn't put it past O'Malley to try to use a visual aid next week in the DNC/CNN debate - perhaps even whip out an HQL - which would be quite a feat as he can simultaneously claim to be a pro-gun Democrat.

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