Obama rolls out new executive actions on gun safety

The president will roll out his gun-control initiatives over the next few days

President Obama considers ways to end gun violence. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

President Barack Obama is back from vacation and ready to face one of his toughest challenges — reducing gun violence.

The president met Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey and other top officials on Monday to discuss a three-month review of several new gun control measures. Mr Obama said he will bypass congress with his executive authority to strengthen background checks for buyers who make purchases at high-volume gun dealers — shops that sell more than 50 guns annually.

The order would require said dealers to obtain a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and administer background checks to all potential customers. The administration also plans to invest $500 million to increase access to mental health care.

While sitting with Attorney Lynch in the Oval Office, President Obama told reporters that his executive actions would be consistent with 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. He also admitted that his plan would not solve all gun violence but could "potentially save lives."

"Although it is my strong belief that for us to get our complete arms around the problem — Congress needs to act. What I asked my team to do was to see what more we could do to strengthen our enforcement and prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands," he said.

Mr Obama plans to participate in a town hall at George Mason University on Thursday which will be moderated by CNN. The reinvested interest in thwarting gun violence comes after the San Bernardino shooting that took the lives of 14 and wounded many others in December 2015.

Republicans were quick to pounce on reports of the president’s plan and promised to legally fight his actions. On Monday, US House Speaker Paul Ryan chided President Obama’s stance on gun rights.

“Ever since he was a candidate, President Obama’s dismissiveness toward Americans who value the 2nd Amendment has been well-documented,” he said, according to Fox News.

GOP presidential candidates also criticized the president by saying that most guns purchased by suspects in mass shootings were done so legally. Still, the president said that even if his actions prevents a single act of gun violence than the decision would be worth it.

"Each time, we're told that commonsense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, so we shouldn't do anything," President Obama said.

"We know that we can't stop every act of violence. But what if we tried to stop even one?”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that the Obama administration is expecting legal challenges with the new gun restrictions. However, Mr Earnest said on Monday that the executive orders would stand up in court.

President Obama has already signed 23 executive actions for gun safety, bypassing a reluctant congress and enacting the most strict proposals the US had seen in two decades. The sweeping changes came after twenty children and six adults were fatally shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.

"I get too many letters from parents, and teachers, and kids to sit around and do nothing,” President Obama said during his weekly radio address.

"I get letters from responsible gun owners who grieve with us every time these tragedies happen, who share my belief that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to bear arms and who share my belief we can protect that right while keeping an irresponsible, dangerous few from inflicting harm on a massive scale.”

Democratic candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said that he would support the president’s decision, while 2016 frontrunner Hillary Clinton said that tougher gun restrictions are needed throughout the US.

President Obama’s final State of the Union address is scheduled for 12 January before he leaves office in 2017.