President Obama will meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday to finalize a package of executive decrees that could make it harder for private citizens to purchase guns from their family or neighbor and could include other provisions that would deny gun ownership to law abiding Americans.
The current federal statute dictates that those who are "engaged in the business" of dealing firearms need to obtain a federal license - and, therefore, conduct background checks - but exempts anyone "who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms."
Gun control advocates - including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was gravely injured in a 2011 mass shooting, and former New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg - have met personally with Obama over the past month to push for the background checks expansion and other measures.
Everytown spokeswoman Erika Soto Lamb, whose group was founded with Bloomberg's support, said the current interpretation of what it means to be "engaged in the business" of selling firearms is "a hazy definition that allows high-volume sellers to transfer thousands of guns without background checks, no questions asked."
Other proposals the administration has been weighing include requiring federally-licensed gun dealers to report any lost and stolen guns to the National Crime Information Center; publishing aggregate background check denial data for guns sold by unlicensed sellers; clarifying that convicted abusers are prohibited from having guns regardless of their marital status; and instructing federal law enforcement to identify and arrest criminals who attempt to buy illegal guns.
The licensing decree is sure to be challenged in court, as it targets a niche gun market of collectors and occassional sellers, most of whom sell weapons to people they know. The idea that a criminal would purchase an antique Colt 45 is absurd on its face, but no one will ever accuse gun control advocates of employing logic.
The facts - which never seem to make it into the emotionally charged, weepy arguments of gun control advocates - is that gun homicides have dropped an astonishing 49% since 1993. About 2/3 of gun deaths are the result of suicide or accidents, a fact conveniently twisted by gun grabbers. We didn't need the nanny state targeting law abiding citizens to make those improvements.
Of course, the fact that Congress is being bypassed again isn't newsy, so I'll just mention it in passing. But this little preview the president is giving us of his last year in office should worry anyone who respects the Constitution and the rule of law.
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