Until members of this Congress understand that they have a Constitutional responsibility to act like leaders – rather than serve as the pawns of the NRA and the gun sellers that the NRA represents – there will not be enough done to keep these weapons out of the hands of violent criminals and the mentally ill.

Some steps, and more than I expected. But handguns are arguably the real issue–of course civilians, everyone, should be protected from assault weapons. But most people are killed by handguns. We need to ban everything but hunting rifles, and have stringent rules around their ownership and use.

Directing the Attorney General to work with other agencies to review our laws to make sure they are effective at identifying the dangerous or untrustworthy individuals that should not have access to guns.

This scares me and I hate guns. Somehow I see this EO being abused in a way that would fill the prisons and mental hospitals with dissidents and anarchists who demonstrate against fascism and the corporatocracy. On the other hand it may be a way to disarm all the employees of those “private” security companies.

The GOP will hate this so Obama should leak some intel about how Terrorists plan to buy guns at gun shows when they get to America.

Correct, handguns are the real issue. But I suspect a lot of the handguns used to commit crimes are already being purchased & carried illegally, so I’m not sure laws will change much.

so.. if I read this thing right, his idea of Executive Action is sending out a series of memos to everybody telling them to do their jobs?

Proposing, not disposing. The mark of a true grifter.

You sound like a dangerous and untrustworthy individual. You should not have access to guns. :)

That’s my concern, too, MOST unfortunately.

I agree that something has to be done vis guns & gun violence which is utterly out of control, and I’m somewhat amazed that BO discovered something approaching a spine. That said, I distrust his puppet masters and their evil intentions towards the 99%. It’s too bad that almost nothing BO does bodes well for the 99% – or at least that’s how it seems to me.

Hope I’m totally wrong in this instance, but I won’t hold my breath.

Gun control is a complicated issue fraught with exceptions, definitions, and policy questions that can’t be solved with a proposal like this. That EO is just one example of how oversimplified he is making this issue that he obviously doesn’t want any part of since he farmed out all the hard work.

Yep. Big Barry Zero did as little as possible while making it seem like he did a whole lotta something or other. No doubt some will swoon with unbridled joy at how “masterful” this is…

Yeah, it’s “masterful” alright. Typical masterful CON signifying not very much, other than potential worse treatment of the 99%.

And so: on it goes…

NRA proposes cops in schools and liberals laugh. Obama proposes more armed cops in schools and liberals go silent. Typical.

The sooner children learn to accept the omnipresent police state, the better, seems to be the consensus view.

Dear Mr. President, thank you for enacting sane and reasonable gun restrictions.

Your actions will have consequences. Most importantly, that of saving lives from endless and tragic gun violence.

But also, it will be a focal point from which American’s on the unhinged
and fear driven Evangelical Right will, “take sides”. Of this, no one should have any doubt. Those on the right have already told us what they plan to do. They are cowards, they are impotent and they are hateful.

The question now is, what are people who live on sanity’s side going to do? For to sit still and think that with the President signing rational and reasonable gun restrictions into law that all their work is done, are fools.

Vigilance!

Yes but he was on teeebeee looking like he’ll do something that’s good enough for the folks that care, I guess.

The NRA wants the government to station armed guards in every school, but claims we need more guns to protect against ‘tyrannical government.’ It makes your head spin.

I think it’s important to this debate for those of us who’d like to ban and seize guns to speak up, if only to move the debate back to some rational center. Sure, there are the ‘cold, dead hands’ folks. But there are also some of us who’d like to take your guns away. Let’s talk about the broad range of gun opinion, not only the center and the wacky right.

Let’s respect those of us who simply don’t understand the need for civilian ownership of assault weapons, or large ‘collections’ of handguns, or armor -piercing bullets. Let’s allow Americans who want to not only ban some kinds of weapons, but seize existing weapons, our say. Let’s accommodate ALL views in this coming discussion we’re having.

This is the big problem with Obama’s proposals. Gun sales will spike again just because controls are proposed. There are millions of assault weapons out there already. LAPD did a buyback program after Sandyhook and I saw there were dozens of those bushmaster type guns turned in. We need to address the culture of ignorance and mis information that the 1%ers promoted as a wedge issue to get out the vote.

We need to address the culture of ignorance and mis information that the 1%ers promoted as a wedge issue to get out the vote…

… and to make big buck$$$! CHA CHING!

It’s all of a piece (and no, not the one you can “carry”), but always, I do mean ALWAYS, follow the money…

That’s it??? Really? if you read his 23 executive orders, they mostly make sense, but they won’t prevent even one death, or mass shooting. How can anyone say they will???
The only thing even remotely able to stop a shooting is that all healthcare workers must report a person they think might use a gun illegally, but that’s very rare, and probably already happens.
As for his other proposals to Congress, also Very Weak! . . .
1) Background checks??? is that going to stop a guy from stealing a gun and using it in a crime???
2) Limit ammo clips to 10 bullets??? is that going to stop a guy from firing 10 times, and then reloading? or switching to a different gun? or all the high volume clips out there already???
3) Assault weapons ban??? we already had this law, and it didn’t prevent any mass shootings, how is this going to help in any way???
The Truth is it’s really impossible to stop these mass killings, the killer will always find a way, true it’s easier with a gun, but if we take away that option, maybe they will move on to bombs, or germs, or poisons.
The thing I think might have made a difference is to make the producers of violent images in TV, Movies and Video games think twice before glorifying gun violence, and other types of violence. Video games might be the worst offender because they allow the player to enter into a world where he is the killer. All the President said about that was we should approve money to study the effect on people who watch violent images. There have been 1000′s of studies over the last 50 years and they almost all conclude that watching violent images makes a person more likely to commit violent acts.
I grade President Obama a Failure on trying to prevent gun violence.

You would be academically correct that O is a fail on this but politically incorrect. That is our current problem with 1% owning Government and the mass media. Like to predict the change in trajectory of gun deaths in the USA if all these proposals get implemented? I would guess they stay the same or go up.

Keep all guns in a secure community armory and bear those guns in the training and deployment of a well-regulated militia. Dispense hunting rifles to the registered hunter- owners in season, to be returned to safe-keeping at season’s end. I’m there with you. An individual has only one reason to personally keep a gun in a civilized society, and that is to inflict violent influence on that society. That includes vigilantism in the name of self-defense instead of dealing with the causes of crime proactively and responsibly.

This is a beginning and more than I expected as we move to some more sanity about guns. Personally, I agree with Teddy. I want them all gone. But I know some decent people who have them, so I want some semblance of sanity. The list sounds good, but to the extent congress has to do anything it won’t happen.

What a load of horseshit. Great, so the die has been cast and this will be the emotional knee-jerk argument we will have for the next two years like healthcare before it where Obama will give in on his principles and we will be left with scraps.

This is all kabuki meant to distract us from our shrinking wages, our declining empire and to prevent us from focusing on the rich and powerful who steal from our country each and every day.

Yes, gun violence is horrible, but I would instead ask why people are doing what they are? Perhaps some lash out in moment’s of crisis, but for the most part a dying mental health system that can’t serve all those who need it have set us up for the system in which we live today.

So play on.. let’s all get heated up about guns. I like how he wants to spend $500 million on this on executive orders, but where were the executive orders in the aftermath of him coming to power against the rich and powerful? Why does he only do this when he can score political points and only fuel the hatred of a radical right that will only divide this country further.

Stand up to the Republicans on real issues, not this nonsense. Tragedy happens and we move on. Fight them on things of true substance not this crap. We only rally around things that make us scared, not things that make us a better people who might actually _FOR ONCE_ go to sleep thinking that tomorrow might actually be better as opposed to standard expectation that things will be worse tomorrow.

Whether a gun nut has to wait 3 days or use lesser round magazines, it won’t matter. They will hoardtheir larger clips starting tonight and the prices will skyrocket. It won’t stop the next tragedy. All it does is shift the media’s focus from the real problems in our country for an emotional trigger.

Life in America.

OK, O’s got a decent start. But this should be just the start and not the only action on reducing gun violence. Let’s not wait a generation for more sensible relgulation.

Get people jobs & opportunities that will go along way in addressing peoples insecurities…What good are these executive actions if folks have no access to mental health care & decent paying jobs.
people are committing heinous violence cuz this is what we are,The guy who sits down every Tuesday & play with his kill list like it was honorable now sees fault in those that are imitating his actions.

Why are progressives not seeing the hypocrisy in what this creep is doing,well i guess it’s cuz it’s not American children that are being blown up with drones.They are innocent nonetheless for chrissakes!.

Instead of focusing on guns progressives need to urge the President to provide better opportunities for ordinary Americans & not the wealthy.

Now,there is way too much violence in our society,if we can get the cops to give up their guns maybe we can persuade gun-owners to do the same.

Worthless and symbolic bullshit. Another waste of money for nothing.

So, it looks like he didn’t do very much meaningful on Executive Orders. And the President really appears to be mocking the whole gun control effort:

He mentioned Attorney General Eric Holder, the most notorious Gun Runner of all time, who still hasn’t been arrested, and no Special Prosecutor has been named;

He himself has signed off on about one hundred Murders since New Years Day, by Coward Drone in Pakistan, and they all may be against children, since they are called things like “suspected Taliban” (code words meaning students) or “(suspected) militants” (code words for children at least 13 years old).

As the President continues killing children, and nominates Nazi kid-killer and Torture supporter Brennan to spy on Americans, it looks like he’s still setting a terrible example, likely to be imitated by mass shooters again and again.

What a madman.

If you think that was worthless bullshit, wait till you see this nonsense tomorrow:

Instead of doing something serious, he’s running a campaign event, Vote for gun hero Joe Biden, and he’s flying in children from around the country, to have them speak at the signing ceremony, to make an even bigger mockery of something he should be taking seriously.

What a crook.

Hey, wireat1
You’re supposed to be paying attention to the executive orders about guns.

One thing about these politcos: they are the fastest gun in the country when it comes to pulling the trigger on any type of regulation on the masses.

I wonder what 23 executive orders regarding bank regulation would have looked like?

Good thing “liberals” don’t let the social issues take priority on financial issues for working people like “conservatives” do. Otherwise, they’d be voting against their economic interests.

I’d say that you and normanb have just about covered it, wirerat1.

Well and truly said, both of you.

This is simply empty noise signifying nothing but the coming kabuki, as it plays right into the fears and paranoia of the righteously frightened.

It marks meaningless lines in the sand … and defines no clear or enduring principles.

Doubtless this will be considered the “defining achievement” of Obama’s second term, the book-end to the “Affordable Care Act” … whose primary function, this time, is to extend the police state mentality, of 911 and “the Homeland”, just as the essential function of the ACA was to enshrine the place of insurance companies and big pharma at the center of the American “system” of “health care”.

DW

Swift action from Obama. proving he can be very effective.

When are the orders for prosecuting the banksters, torturers, and war criminals to be signed?

Or the one rescheduling the classification of Marijuana?

Yes,if the “Afforable Care Act” was about helping ordinary Americans,Mental health treatment would have been provided in a meaningful way insead at lilttle help for Americans and big buckos for Health-Ins Corpos.

What I like is the great big list to be kept of people considered “bad.” As we all know, there is no chance that list will be expanded or abused. I don’t think even a GOP President would abuse that list of “bad” people.

Yeah right…

I know how this movie ends .Some wizard will ,correctly ,say this is all bullshit tokenism to appease white privilege who want an emotion rescue by being placated with a solution that conforms with their suburban perception of the problem.The wizard will note that 95% of gun violence is attributable to illegal firearms ,and soon the serial and mass murdering psychos, overwhelmingly mentally disturbed white people from middle-class backgrounds ,fade into the background only to be replaced with Tyrone and Julio on the corner in the hood .

Soon ,mandatory sentences for gun possession becomes the new rage for harvesting political expendables into prison slaves for the Fortune 500. Just follow the fraudulent drug war to points of high visibility and find a treasure trove of politically voiceless minorities with clown leadership .

Develop a national database to identify “dangerous or untrustworthy individuals” (to be compiled in cooperation with the Attorney General). This is ominous and it’s not mainly about gun control.