In what’s become the true legacy of his two-term presidency, President Barack Obama bypassed Congress to sign another executive action this time on gun control. What Obama couldn’t get from Congress on immigration reform, he signed Nov. 21, 2014 an executive order preventing deportation of offspring of illegal immigrants. Marking his last year in office, Barack’s signed another executive order requiring background checks at gun shows or swap meets, requiring sellers to register as gun dealers. Giving GOP presidential candidates more red meat, Obama made life all-the-more difficult for Democratic front-runner former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton walks a tightrope agreeing with Obama’s executive order, potentially alienating independent voters. Obama’s executive action marks another failure to work with a GOP Congress.
Watching gun massacres during his presidency, especially the Dec. 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School slaughter by 20-year-old Adam Lanza killing 28, including himself, Obama felt compelled to act to improve gun control. Opposed by Second Amendment advocates and its primary lobbying group the National Rifle Association, Obama insisted registering unregulated gun shows would somehow help the epidemic of gun violence. With an estimated 300 million guns in the United States, Obama believes registering gun sellers at swap meets or gun shows would provide another safety check to potential gun buyers. “Just because you shop for guns with your mouse and not your feet doesn’t mean you should be able to avoid background checks,” said White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, a resident of Chicago, considered the deadliest city in America.
Obama wants the gun show or Internet loophole closed, requiring anyone purchasing firearms in those settings to go through standard Department of Justice background checks. Signing the executive order choking back tears in the East Room of the White House, Obama lashed out at the GOP-controlled Congress. “They cannot hold America hostage,” said Obama, reflecting his frustration, unable to get Congress to act on gun control legislation. “This is not a plot to take away everybody’s guns,” said Barack, hoping to reassure Second Amendment advocates that have painted the president as seeking more restrictive gun laws. Instructing U.S. Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch to work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive to work on new guidance for sales of firearms and explosives, Obama hopes that increased background checks prevent future carnage.
Requiring all sellers at gun shows or on the Internet to register as gun dealers, the White House hopes to require the same background checks and waiting periods as licensed gun dealers. Obama wants to improve enforcement, adding some 230 new FBI examiners to review background checks on new applications to purchase firearms. Second Amendment advocates argue that gun laws don’t stop criminals from committing gun violence, insisting that “the finger pulls the trigger,” not the other way around. Countries like Australia found out the opposite, that when the government cracked down on gun purchases, gun violence diminished, something confirmed by hard data. Second Amendment advocates don’t like to face the facts about gun accessibility and availability, increasing chances of gun violence. Signing his executive order, Obama rejects the idea “so why bother trying?”
Signing his executive order today, Obama gives the GOP more ammunition heading into the Iowa caucuses. Rural states, whether in the Midwest of South, don’t like liberal politicians playing with their Second Amendment rights. Obama’s executive order creates expected fallout, highlighting, once again, that a liberal Democrat can’t getting anything done with a Republican Congress. While Hillary goes through the motions for the Democratic nomination, she’s going to have a hard time convincing voters in the general election that she’d be able to work with a GOP-controlled Congress. Whether admitted to or not, signing Obamacare into law March 23, 2010 without one Republican vote ruined his ability to work across the aisle in Congress. Watching Barack sign executive orders to bypass Congress confirms his failure, making it more difficult for Hillary in 2016.
Obama’s executive order on control gun control promises to galvanize the GOP during a hotly contested election year. Whether Hillary agrees with Obama’s executive order or not, she’ll get blamed by GOP and independent voters for messing with the Second Amendment. “We maybe can’t save everybody, but we could save some,” said Obama, insisting his executive action would save lives. Obama’s executive order requires gun sellers on the Internet, swap meets or gun shows to register as gun dealers for waiting periods and full DOJ background checks. Whether that helps save lives is anyone’s guess. Signing the executive order sends a loud message to voters that no Democrat—like Obama—can get anything done in Congress. Obama’s executive order makes Hillary’s climb to the White House that much steeper, making the case that any Democratic would have to rule by fiat.
