My Analysis of Obama’s Plan To Curb Gun Violence

Today President Barack Hussein Obama unveiled his Grand Plan to curb gun violence.  The following are my thoughts on his Executive Orders which are part of his plan:

I’ll preface this by saying these are my first reactions – my support for certain provisions of his Executive Orders may reverse as we find out more information, and the same can be said of the provisions on which I don’t agree.

THE EXECUTIVE ORDERS I DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OR SUPPORT

Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

OK – no problem with this one.  As written, it seems pretty benign.  Nothing here that mandates anything – it simply clarifies the use of a system and process already in place.

Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

Ehhh….OK.  I don’t think this is particularly helpful, but it shouldn’t take long or be costly, so fine.  Take 15 minutes and review the safety standards.  We really need an Executive Order for this?

Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

Unless television has been lying to me, it seems that any local, State, or Federal law enforcement agency which recovers a gun during a criminal investigation ALREADY attempts to trace the firearm to it’s source.  What’s next Columbo?  Issue a Presidential Memorandum for cops to start eating more donuts??

Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

OK…but why?  What’s to be gained here?  “The DOJ has analyzed the available information on this firearm which has been reported as lost or stolen, and after intense analysis and hundreds of man hours, we have determined that it is indeed lost or stolen.”

Provide law enforcement, first responders and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

Now THIS is an Executive Order I can support.  Proper training should include “Double tap.  Repeat as necessary.”  In all seriousness I’ve taken proper Active Shooter Training and I can only hope that this same kind of training would be made available to the above listed groups.

Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

Sounds like a pretty vague and unfunded mandate…but OK, fine….

Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

Fine.  And while you’re at it BOH, how about you actually read the existing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reasearch that studied the “assault weapon” ban  of 1994 and other gun control attempts, and found “insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence,”  Yes, you’ve read that correctly – the Centers for Disease Control has already studied this issue….you just didn’t get the answer you were looking for BHO, so you want to spend more money on more studies….<eye roll>.  But fine…do another study.

Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

OK…one would think someone bright enough to get a doctorate of medicine would be able to figure this one out on their own WITHOUT the need for an Executive Ordered letter.  But fine….let Michelle take a break from buying pretty dresses at Target and have her type up a letter.  This should cost less than a dress from Target to implement.

Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

You mean Adam Lanza didn’t already provide enough “incentive” in this regard??  I suppose I can support this one, but I’d like to know exactly what “incentive” means.

Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

OK – seems like a decent enough idea.  It will help some folks start “somewhere” with developing their own plans.  Again, this doesn’t sound tremendously expensive.

Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

OK….but if state health officials didn’t get and read the memo before, what makes BHO think they will this time?

Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

These are provisions of “Obama Care” which I object to as much as I do additional Gun Control.  That said, these two Executive Orders seem fairly benign within the bounded irrationality which is Obama Care.

Launch a national dialogue led by [Human Services Secretary Kathleen] Sebelius and [Education Secretary [Arne] Duncan on mental health.

I’m preeeeetty sure a “national dialogue” on mental health started happening on December 14th, 2012…if not earlier.  But BHO, if you want to write an Executive Order to make sure something is happening that’s been going on for weeks if not months, then knock your socks off Captain Obvious.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMM….(THE STUPID EXECUTIVE ORDERS)

Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

The “devil is in the details” on this one.  Exactly what does BHO consider “relevant data?”  I’m hoping this one gets challenged legally – it’s waaay too open ended.  What data is needed and why?  This sounds like a recipe for any Federal agency to create a database of gun owners.

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.

My concerns above apply here is well.  Exactly what information is being sought and why?

Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

Again, what information is required and why?

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.

This is perhaps the most idiotic of these Executive Orders.  US Attorney General Eric Holder is the same genius who allowed the infamous operation “Fast and Furious” to take place which allowed a huge number of weapons to reach the hands of Mexican drug gang.  Let’s make sure he understands that Mexican drug gangs are in fact dangerous people before we worry about who’s supposedly slipping through these alleged cracks OK?

Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

This proclamation is rife with problems for law abiding citizens.  So I’m stopped in a routine traffic stop by a local cop, and he exercises his right to “seize” my legally obtained and carried firearm.  Now the cop has the option of not returning my firearm to me until this “full background check” is completed?  How long does that take?  A week?  A month?  No way.  Unacceptable.  A direct violation of the 2nd Amendment, and illegal seizure of property.

Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

I’m not against this idea at all – it’s a great idea, which is why the NRA has been doing it for YEARS.  Why does the government need to spend money re-inventing the wheel when they could PARTNER with the NRA to expand it’s existing efforts in this regard?

Nominate an ATF director.

OK….why do we need office space for another Washington Bureaucrat?

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.

Problem #1 here is of course the afore mentioned Attorney General needs to be put behind bars for his part in the attempted cover up of the Fast and Furious debacle.  Problem #2 is that the private sector Gun Industry already has armies of attorneys of their own “challenging” them to reduce liability costs by making guns more safe.  See BHO, here’s how a Free Market economy works…being a Socialist, I’m sure you could use a refresher course…

Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

Ummm….why??  Is this another thinly veiled attempt to create a government database of gun owners?  “Check here for the reason why you’ve come to see the doctor today.”  “Check here if you own a gun.”  “As required by Obama Care, all data collected is shared with the Federal Government.”  No thank you….

As you can imagine, I’m not particularly fond of what Obama is proposing in these Excecutive Orders because A)by and large they’re meaningless and innefectual, and B)they carry a $500 million dollar price tag.

The good news is that even BHO and the liberal media analysts conceede that an Assault Weapons Ban which BHO is asking Congress to consider is doomed to fail.  And it doesn’t look like confiscation is even being discussed.  Neither did BHO propose any new taxes or levies (such as a punishing ammunition tax) as I greatly feared.

The only real question in my mind at this point is will a magazine capacity limit make it through Congress?  I give it a 50-50 chance at this point.  But the Congressional dysfunction which lead to the Fiscal Cliff will surely play in the favor of opponents of this measure.

At the end of the day, the American People have been handed a series of silly Executive Orders which will cost $500 million dollars and do absolutely nothing which will help ensure we’ll never have another Sandy Hook incident.  Remember, I didn’t vote for Obama….