Obama’s Gun Control Runs into Opposition

Without question, the amount of mass shootings that have taken place in America is making many people concerned. For quite some time now, other administrations allowed the issue to slide. However, Pres. Obama made it clear that if he ever was voted into office, he would enforce gun control laws. With the most recent shootings that have taken place In San Bernardino, Obama went ahead with his executive order and expanded government limits on sales of guns.

It didn’t take very long before a lawsuit was filed that challenged Obama’s Executive Order, specifically the validity of it. Freedom Watch, a conservative-leaning advocacy group, filed a lawsuit that claimed the president’s actions attempted to outsmart Congress’ legislative powers illegally. Larry Klayman, Freedom Watch’s founder, says that Obama’s actions aren’t constitutional. Klayman says that the Executive Order is exceeding the American Constitution’s powers.

Obama justified his actions by saying that a loophole had existed allowing sales of certain guns to transpire without buyers going through background checks. Laws have since been revised to let the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) extend enforcement directly to those who don’t make a living selling firearms (i.e.,people who visit gun shows or sell their firearms to the average person).

According to this new law, before a firearm is sold, those individuals must conduct background checks on an individual purchasing a weapon. This “loophole” is what Obama was referring to when hisExecutive Order was signed. Before it was signed, the amount of firearms that were sold from places like gun shows was excessively high, and nobody was tracking either the seller or buyer. Obama askedthe Social Security Administration to chronicle people who had mental health issues when conducting background checks for firearm sales. In doing so, those with mental issues that attempt to purchase a gun will raise red flags.

Klayman makes an argument that Obama’s Executive Order has language that is vague. He says that the mental competence of someone was vaguely defined before the order was signed. He claims Obama’s mental competency term could be applied to anybody in America.

It is believed that other lawsuits are on the horizon that will challenge the Executive Order for gun control. Nobody knows what to expect since the subject of gun regulation is both politically and legally contentious.