If President Obama or any future commander-in-chief wants to take executive action on gun control, the Washington Post’s editorial board says it’s worth a shot.
“In a more rational Washington … requiring gunmakers to install ‘smart’ technology that would allow only authorized users to shoot [would be on Congress’s agenda],” the newspaper’s editorial board claimed this weekend. “If your iPhone can require your thumbprint, so could your pistol. Reality hasn’t changed, however: A GOP Congress isn’t likely to approve any gun control bill any time soon.”
Following a mass shooting earlier this month in Roseburg, Ore., the president said at a White House press conference that he has instructed his administration to see what can be done to address gun violence.
“In terms of what I can do, I’ve asked my team, as I have in the past, to scrub what kinds of authorities do we have to enforce the laws that we have in place more effectively to keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” he said.
“Are there additional actions that we can take that might prevent even a handful of these tragic deaths from taking place?” he asked.
To this end, the White House is reportedly mulling executive action that would require background checks for “individuals who buy from dealers who sell a significant number of guns each year,” the Post reported separately.
The current law requires only that those who are “engaged in the business” of selling firearms must obtain a federal license and perform checks. Individuals who make “occasional sales, or who buy or sell guns as part of a personal collection or for a hobby” are currently exempt from both of these requirements, the Associated Press reported.
The gun control measures currently under consideration for executive action would require that anyone who sells a certain number of firearms each year first obtain a federal license, and they must agree to perform background checks.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, for her part, has come out in favor of legislation that would require that private individuals who sell a “significant number of guns” obtain a federal license, perform checks and keep records that can later be turned over to federal authorities for audit.
“This would not fully close the ‘gun-show loophole’ or shut freewheeling Internet gun markets. But it could cut the number of unregulated private gun sales, which undermine the background check system, and there’s a good argument that the president can do it without Congress’s approval,” the Post said.
The editorial then theorized that the former secretary of state, “would clarify that the law does not condone unregulated de facto gun dealing, perhaps by setting guidelines on how many or what sort of gun sales one can make before qualifying as a dealer, or otherwise distinguishing between authentic hobbyists and gun purveyors.”
There are likely several questions that would arise from any such actions, such as: “How many guns would a person need to sell in order to qualify for the federal license and background check requirements?” But even if there are problems caused by executive action, it’s still worth a try, the editorial explained.
“Ms. Clinton’s administrative action would at best offer incremental improvement, and even that would be limited without giving [the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] more resources for enforcement. But while working for broader change, the country shouldn’t turn up its nose at incremental progress,” the Post said.
Obama has not said outright that he would take unilateral action on gun control, but past remarks suggest that he hasn’t ruled out the possibility. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also declined Monday afternoon to dispel the rumors.
It’s an “ongoing” issue, he said, adding also, “the fact is there are a lot of things that can be done that don’t undermine the basic constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans.”
