On guns, Obama decides (again) not to wait
Fourteen months ago, a fed up Barack Obama decided he no longer had the patience to wait on Congress to enact meaningful immigration reform. Instead, the president announced a series of executive actions that protected as many as 6 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
The Observer editorial board was a bit uncomfortable with that decision. We weren’t sure of the wisdom – political or otherwise – of one man setting significant policy instead of Congress. But ultimately, Congress had neglected its responsibility on immigration, and we hoped the president’s action would change that.
Now, Obama is turning his authority toward another issue: gun violence.
On Monday, the president announced that over the next several days, he will be rolling out details of executive actions surrounding firearms. At the top of his list is a proposal that would require more “occasional dealers” – such as those who sell online or at gun shows – to conduct background checks on potential gun buyers.
Obama also is calling for stepped up resources for enforcement of existing gun laws, as well as $500 million to increase access for mental health care. He’ll need Congress for both of those – but not the background check expansion.
The White House first floated the “occasional dealer” proposal a couple of years ago, but attorneys worried that defining “occasional” was problematic and arbitrary – and therefore might not survive a legal challenge. But the idea, along with others, was revived in October after the mass shooting that killed nine at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.
Are these new executive actions merely another way to enact policy without Congress? In this case, not so much. The gun proposals are far less sweeping than Obama’s executive actions on immigration (which have been blocked for now by a federal judge). The “occasional dealer” measure, unlike the immigration action, appears to be a narrow and legal tightening of what’s essentially a gun dealer loophole.
Critics, of course, will use that lack of scope to argue against any gun restrictions. Expanding background checks wouldn’t have prevented Umpqua, they say, and San Bernardino would’ve happened even with assault weapon bans. That may be true, but it also misses the point.
Most gun control measures aren’t about sweeping changes or magic solutions. In part, that’s because sweeping changes aren’t going to happen so long as Congress continues to do the bidding of the gun lobby. But also, gun control isn’t realistically about preventing all shootings big and small. It’s about doing common sense things – like expanding background checks – so that it’s harder for people who shouldn’t have guns to get them.
Americans have largely been split on stricter gun laws in general, but overwhelmingly in favor of some measures, including expanded background checks. While we’re still uncomfortable when the president acts without Congress, he is far from acting alone.
This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 5:23 PM with the headline "On guns, Obama decides (again) not to wait."