Obama's administration is exploring new ways to change gun laws through executive action.
/ File Photo
Update 4:35 p.m.
For a local gunshop owner's reaction to the White House's proposal, click here.
Previously
Texas and gun rights... Two things that seem to go hand and hand and now President Barack Obama's administration is exploring new ways to change gun laws, all through executive action and without the consent of Congress.
The Huffington Post reports that Obama's administration is looking at potential changes in the gun laws in ways that could beef up background checks or encourage better data-sharing. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice had its first meeting with a group of stake holders in the gun policy debates. Officials said they planned to discuss the White House's options for shaping its own policy or through adjoining agencies and departments on the issues of background checks and data-sharing.
"The purpose of these discussions is to be a productive exchange of good ideas from folks across the spectrum," one official said. "We think that's a good place to start."
Obama's administration is looking at making the changes through executive action, because they are being faced with a Congress hostile to even slight restrictions of Second Amendment rights, the Huffington Post reported.
Also on Tuesday, House Democrats joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as they announced new legislation that would make fundamental changes to the nation's gun background check system.
"Too often, any serious discussion about guns devolves into ideological arguments that have nothing to do with the real problem," Bloomberg, a co-founder of the coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns, told reporters at a press event outside the Capitol. "Our coalition strongly believes in the Second Amendment. We also know from experience that we can keep guns away from dangerous people without imposing burdens on law-abiding gun owners."
In an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star, Obama said the discussions were meant to help build a more broad coalition around the elements of reform. He said those elements include state-to-state coordination, faster background checks and greater enforcement of the present laws.
So what to do you think? Should President Obama use his executive power to change the gun laws?
