Obama Releases Executive Order
More than 30,000 lives are lost every year due to gun violence. Now, President Obama wants to do his part to change that.
The president has released an executive order that will help close a loophole allowing Americans to buy firearms without a background check. But is this order necessary? News 25’s Bryan Kennedy caught up with gun enthusiasts on the Coast to see what this order means to them.
President Obama said, “Anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks or be subject to criminal prosecutions.” This is the backbone of Obama’s executive order. It would essentially shut down the gun show loophole that allows Americans to buy guns without a background check. Gun enthusiast Anthony DiStefano says if these new laws and orders affect the safety of Americans, they should be shot down. “I think that gun laws that are in place are good since people have the right to defend themselves. Any kind of new law that comes about it, if it puts a person at jeopardy, then I think it should be shot down.”
A similar law was shot down three years ago by Congress that was put forth by President Obama. The owner of Dad’s Super Pawn, Kevin Riley, says this order is redundant and that the laws needed to force background checks are already there. “Because our government does not enforce the laws that are on the books today, if they would just enforce what’s there, everything would work but they would not enforce what’s in place,” said Riley.
Those laws or the lack of enforcement of them do not affect Riley but he says he can’t say the same for other businesses and that the problem comes along with unlicensed guns salesmen. “You have people that are out there selling guns that are in the gun business who are unlicensed that are making a profit. That’s the key word, to make a profit, and they are required by law to have a gun license,” said Riley.
Coast gun owners tell News 25 they are concerned that the president’s executive order is putting their Second Amendment right to bear arms in the cross hairs, a constitutional right our country was founded on. “That’s what our founding fathers decided that’s what they wanted to have America stand up for itself and defend itself, whether it be from foreign or domestic,” said DiStefano.
President Obama’s executive order also calls for more money to put toward mental health issues, as well as putting more ATF and FBI agents on the ground in an effort to better enforce background checks.
The president has released an executive order that will help close a loophole allowing Americans to buy firearms without a background check. But is this order necessary? News 25’s Bryan Kennedy caught up with gun enthusiasts on the Coast to see what this order means to them.
President Obama said, “Anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks or be subject to criminal prosecutions.” This is the backbone of Obama’s executive order. It would essentially shut down the gun show loophole that allows Americans to buy guns without a background check. Gun enthusiast Anthony DiStefano says if these new laws and orders affect the safety of Americans, they should be shot down. “I think that gun laws that are in place are good since people have the right to defend themselves. Any kind of new law that comes about it, if it puts a person at jeopardy, then I think it should be shot down.”
A similar law was shot down three years ago by Congress that was put forth by President Obama. The owner of Dad’s Super Pawn, Kevin Riley, says this order is redundant and that the laws needed to force background checks are already there. “Because our government does not enforce the laws that are on the books today, if they would just enforce what’s there, everything would work but they would not enforce what’s in place,” said Riley.
Those laws or the lack of enforcement of them do not affect Riley but he says he can’t say the same for other businesses and that the problem comes along with unlicensed guns salesmen. “You have people that are out there selling guns that are in the gun business who are unlicensed that are making a profit. That’s the key word, to make a profit, and they are required by law to have a gun license,” said Riley.
Coast gun owners tell News 25 they are concerned that the president’s executive order is putting their Second Amendment right to bear arms in the cross hairs, a constitutional right our country was founded on. “That’s what our founding fathers decided that’s what they wanted to have America stand up for itself and defend itself, whether it be from foreign or domestic,” said DiStefano.
President Obama’s executive order also calls for more money to put toward mental health issues, as well as putting more ATF and FBI agents on the ground in an effort to better enforce background checks.
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