Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions

Today, the President has announced that he and the Administration will do 23 things.  I’m going to comment on each one of them. Remember all this hoopla about gun control is liberal exploitation of the Sandy Hook school tragedy to further their quest for power.

Not so hidden in these 23 presidential edicts is a lot of spending.  It basically does nothing to resolve the problem with mass murders.  I quote Alan Gottlieb of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, “President Barack Obama has deliberately missed the target with his proposed gun control scheme, announced today at the White House, because it is now clear he wants to blame law-abiding gun owners for the actions of criminals and madmen.”

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
   1. Seems like common sense to me. 
   2. Are we not doing this now?
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.
   1. Seems to me that just about everything this government does throw up some kind of legal barrier.  So now they want to remove them.
   2. Are all our medical records going to be available to the FBI? 
   3. Will my tonsillectomy prevent me from purchasing a firearm?
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
   1. What incentives do they get now?
   2. Would states information have prevented the school tragedy?
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.
   1. Mexican drug cartels for example.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
   1. Does this include unlawful seizer of lawfully owned guns like after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans?
   2. Wouldn’t the time police spend doing this be better spent checking citizenship?  Oh, I forgot they have to have probable cause.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
   1. Just what I need, more paperwork. 
   2. I plan to set up a booth at the gun show and provide this service at $20 per background check.  I’ll get rich.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
   1. I think the NRA has this covered.
   2. Call me.  I’m a certified NRA instructor in firearm safety.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
   1. Let’s get rid of those sharp edges on the keys for the locks
   2. Safes should be leveled properly to prevent injury by heavy doors.
   3. I think that covers everything.
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
   1. I thought this was common practice. 
   2. Oh well, maybe a memorandum will help.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
    1. Here’s a hint.  Look in Mexico.
    2. Why hasn’t it been released before now?
11. Nominate an ATF director.
    1. I will not accept the nomination for the position of ATF director.
    2. I’m shocked to learn that some government bureaucracy does not have a director.
    3. Put it under Big Sis.  She is doing such a great job with homeland security.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
    1. Isn’t this what the NRA has proposed doing?  Why not let them do it?
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
    1. There’s an idea, prosecute crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
    1. Oh crap.  Now I have a disease.  Probably due to overpressure in the chamber caused by gunpowder.
    2. Maybe they can develop a new pill for this malady.   Viagra was a big success.
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.
    1. Better assign this to someone else the Attorney General will be too busy looking for lost and stolen firearms in Mexico.
    2. I accept the challenge.   Here are 4 simple steps to resolve the issue:
       1. Treat all guns as if they are loaded all the time
       2. Finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target
       3. Be aware of your backstop what is in front and behind your target
       4. Never point a gun at anything you don’t intend to destroy
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
    1. I guess the assumption is that a home with a gun is unhealthy.
    2. Probably a better thing to get information about is how many deaths the doctor has been involved in.  There were 225,000 deaths due to medical malpractice last year.
    3. This has something to do with Obamacare not firearms.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
    1. I’ll bet if you looked at all the Code of Federal Regulations and the Obamacare law you could find something that prohibits this reporting.  It’s probably hidden in the tax code somewhere.
    2. How does square with the Hippocratic oath?
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
    1. Is this someone who finds a source for pencils, chalk and erasers?
    2. Has to be a union job.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
    1. My guess is that these plans already exist and that the government wants to throw a bunch of red tape into the mix.
    2. How about including theaters, transportation hubs, sports arenas, 7-11’s and grocery stores?
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
    1. What?  If the letter exists why hasn’t it been released by now?
    2. Is this something the president threw in to push the count up to 23 edicts?
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
    1. More Obamacare stuff.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
    1. We are getting a long way away from gun control.
    2. At least there is a commitment to finalize something.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
    1. Let’s talk about it.
    2. Makes us feel good.