I won’t spend a great deal of time on this since you’ve likely already heard about Obama’s annoucement:
Mr Obama called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and wider background checks on gun buyers.
The Democratic president also signed 23 executive-order measures, which do not require congressional approval.
Mr Obama said gun-control reforms could not wait any longer, after last month’s school massacre in Connecticut.
“While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil,” he said, “if there’s even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try.”
It was a pretty standard affair. You can read about the 23 executive orders here but most of them appear to be variations of enforcing laws that are already on the books. Some of them were somewhat humorous considering the Fast and Furious fiasco:
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
I’m guessing the executive order only means dangerous people who are not employed by a Mexican drug cartel.
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
This one surprised me. Weren’t traces of guns recovered in criminal investigations what lead to the Fast and Furious scandal coming to light? You would think the state would be smart enough to avoid advocating policies that have backfired in the past.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
Does this mean the Department of Justice will notify domestic law enforcement agents when guns are “lost” in areas of Mexico known to be heavily populated with drug cartel members?
The last order I found rather funny was:
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
I thought the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) proposal was considered bat shit crazy by everybody proposing gun control. I wonder what they have to say now that Mr. Obama has signed an order implementing the plan.
If a ban on semi-automatic rifles, standard capacity magazines, or both makes it into law I’ll take comfort in knowing it will ring in a new era of agorist business. Instead of relying on centralized firearm and firearm accessory manufacturers we will have independent individuals building and selling those goods. The sale of those items will not contribute to the state through the taxation policies that currently lead “legitimate” firearm and firearm accessory manufacturers to line the state’s coffers.