Obama to Executive Order gun control in a few days ...

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POCATELLO — White House communications director Jen Psaki said Dec. 18 that President Barack Obama’s planned executive action on gun control would come in “weeks, not months.”

Roll Call reported Wednesday that “senior congressional aides and sources in the gun-control community” indicate that the president will issue his executive actions after the Christmas vacation.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest admitted that Obama’s team of lawyers have been “scrubbing through the law” to find avenues for gun control expansion, according to the Roll Call report.

Obama met with gun control proponent Michael Bloomberg earlier this month to discuss possible ways to circumvent Congress and expand gun control.

Obama’s proposed executive action would take place near the end of 2015, a year that the Washington Post said saw 294 total mass shootings. These were incidents in which four or more people were killed or injured by gunfire.

Bloomberg urged Obama to use executive action to expand background checks to cover private gun owners who sell weapons to other private gun owners and to expand background checks to cover all sales at gun shows.

Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said that from a law enforcement perspective, he’s not sure how the law could be regulated or enforced.

Nielsen said executive action regarding gun control will serve one purpose — it will boost the sales of firearms.

“The bottom line is more people will be buying guns,” Nielsen said. “If he does this without Congress, I believe it will backfire on him.”

The sheriff said the action would also inflame factions that believe the government is trying to take away their Second Amendment right to own firearms.

Nielsen notes that recent mass shootings have taken place in no gun zones, a school, a medical clinic and a military recruitment center.

“As we become a more violent society, citizens need to learn how to protect themselves and be able to protect themselves,” Nielsen said. “Out here in the West, this is not going to help his cause and it will have a reverse effect.”

Many laws that have been enacted through executive order during the Obama presidency are currently being challenged in court, including his immigration policy. Nielsen believes gun reform laws will also stall in court.

California has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but that didn’t stop Syed Rizwan Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik from legally obtaining firearms that they used to open fire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, killing 14 people.

California bars assault weapons, blocks the sale of large-capacity magazines and requires universal background checks for all gun purchases.

Gun owner Mark Balzer stopped in at Old Town Gunslingers on Saturday and he said he opposes background checks for the private sales of weapons.

“There are no statistics that show that it’s an issue or that background checks would impact illegal gun sales,” Balzer said.

Joe Morrell owns Old Town Gunslingers and said an executive order from Obama that enacts new gun laws will set off a firestorm in the Western states.

In Idaho, gun buyers must fill out a 4473 form, which is processed through the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The application does not list the serial number of the weapon but simply states whether it is a handgun or long gun, Morrell said.

Once the gun buyer clears the background check, information about the weapon is added to the form. If the gun is later linked to a crime, law enforcement retrieves the form from the gun seller.

“The point is to trace the gun from the time it leaves the manufacturer,” Morrell said. “Once a gun is passed privately, it’s lost, the trail ends.”

The 4473 form does not register the weapon with any entity, Morrell said, and Idaho does not currently require the weapon to be registered.

“New York requires gun owners to list and register every weapon they own, but how will that apply to collectors who might own 500 unregistered guns,” Morrell said.

Morrell said gun owners who are concerned about reselling a firearm can take it to their local gun shop and authorize the licensee to sell it and run a background check on the buyer.

“We have actually had a few people do that,” Morrell said.

The buyer’s past mental health history and criminal background is included on the form, and falsifying information is illegal.

During Obama’s two terms at the nation’s highest post, Morrell said rumors about expanded gun control laws have surfaced frequently and he’s not getting too excited about the latest news.

“If it happens, there’s not a lot I can do about it, I will comply with the law,” Morrell said. “If it does happen, boy it would be a good week, and then I wouldn’t have anything to sell and no one would be buying anything for a couple of months.”

On Dec. 21, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced legislation to block Obama’s attempt to use executive action to expand gun control laws.

The Hill reported that Paul’s proposal would limit executive action to an advisory-only capacity and require a Congressional vote before the law can be enacted.

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