President Obama announced Tuesday new executive actions designed to expand background checks and increase both enforcement of existing gun laws and funding for mental health treatment.
Obama ticked down a list of nearly a dozen occasions on which he has had to make a speech following a tragic mass shooting, including Ft. Hood, Newtown, Aurora, Charleston, the Navy Yard, and San Bernardino, among others.
"Too many," Obama concluded. “Every single year more than 30,000 Americans have their lives cut short by guns.”
The order is quite modest in nature and seeks to clarify who qualifies as a "licensed dealer" versus who's a private dealer. Licensed dealers must perform background checks on all gun sales, but private dealers are not required to run background checks on their gun sales. Greg Sargent explains:
Current law says that those who are “engaged in the business” of selling firearms, “with the principle objective of livelihood and profit,” are required to get a license, and thus to run checks. But the law excludes those who make “occasional” sales or sell their personal firearms collections.
Thus, the challenge here is to redefine “engaged in the business” in a manner that captures those who effectively are engaged in the business of selling guns — but currently are operating without a license — without capturing those who aren’t.
The main point here is that President Obama isn't really adding new restrictions, he's trying to ensure that gun sellers who should have always qualified as "licensed dealers" are actually being held to that standard and complying with both the letter and the spirit of the law.
That said, though these are not sweeping changes, expanding background checks has proven to decrease gun violence in states that have stronger regulations. Among other research, a 2013 Boston Children’s Hospital study found that “laws requiring universal background checks and permits to purchase firearms were most clearly associated with decreasing rates of gun-related homicides and suicides.”
The president is also proposing a $500 million increase in funding for mental health treatment. That will require congressional approval, giving Republicans a chance to put their money where their mouth is, since they often talk about mental health being the main culprit responsible for gun violence.
He's also seeking more funding in order to add 200 new Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Agents. This is part of an effort to increase enforcement of current laws along with increased tracking on illegal online sales. From the White House fact sheet:
· ATF has established an Internet Investigation Center to track illegal online firearms trafficking and is dedicating $4 million and additional personnel to enhance the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network.
· ATF is finalizing a rule to ensure that dealers who ship firearms notify law enforcement if their guns are lost or stolen in transit.
On Thursday, the president is scheduled to hold a town hall on gun violence in Virginia.