With the controversy surrounding President Obama's gun control measures issued via executive order, many opponents to these measures are claiming that they are violations of Americans' 2nd Amendment rights. So do these orders violate our 2nd Amendment rights?
Below is the list of executive actions President Obama is putting into effect taken from an official White House document which you can view here.
"1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rule making to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
11. Nominate an ATF director.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health."
I am extremely pro-gun rights, and I have no desire to see our right to bear arms denied in any way. I enjoy using everything from shotguns to pistols to assault rifles, and I don't wish to lose my right to do so. However, I can see no way that these measures are not reasonable actions to take to reduce the occurrences of shootings, to ensure weapons stay out of the hands of those who should not have them and to minimize casualties that will occur during a shooting. The measures do not prevent the sale of weapons currently legal to purchase. They do not restrict access to large magazines for weapons. They will simply lead to an increased ability for law enforcement to actually enforce the laws already on the books. And as Forbes put it, "As such, any potential effort to create a constitutional crisis-or the leveling of charges that the White House has overstepped its executive authority-would hold no validity."
These 23 executive orders are common sense actions that should have been taken long ago. Due to the highly politicized nature of the topic, they have not. It is a shame on our nation that we have taken so long to take any true measures to curb the gun violence plaguing our country. However, with the sheer number of shootings occurring around the country anymore, something needs to be done, and these steps are in no way a violation of our rights. They are a good step in the direction of halting gun crime. It will take time to reduce the number of guns in the wrong hands, but over time, we can work together to reduce the toll violent crime is taking our communities.
If you missed the CNN Townhall the other night, you can watch it here.
Tell us your thoughts on the gun control measures in the comments section below!
