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San Berardino police (courtesy ibtimes.com)

“The question is front and center at the White House as Obama travels to San Bernardino on Friday to meet with the families of victims of the mass shooting Dec. 2, in which a self-radicalized couple shot and killed 14 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9/11,” lattimes.com reports. This could be it. The President may unveil his long-anticipated executive orders [further] degrading Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bears. The Times article gives the background on the CIC’s “frustration” with good old fashioned Constitutional democracy, and suggests the Prez’s possible “remedies” . . .

Advisors are considering a range of steps Obama could take to reinterpret existing law, from small tweaks in how federal agencies conduct gun-related investigations and regulate background checks to a major change like closing the so-called gun show loophole.

As the Brits say, it’s the bus you don’t see that kills you. President Obama could, for example, instruct the FBI not to approve background checks for Americans on the super secret Terrorist Watchlist. He could instruct the ATF to strictly interpret the “sporting purposes” clause that allows companies to import AR-style rifles. He could do a lot of things.

Or nothing much at all. As political junkies will attest, President Obama is known for generating a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Obama’s previous slate of gun control-related executive orders following Sandy Hook were so mild I can’t even recall what they were. Oh right: he “ordered” the Centers for Disease Control to resume “gun violence” research. An Executive Order undercut by Congress, who used the power of the purse to deny the CDC funding for semi-scientific anti-gun agitprop.

So the “small tweaks” announcement is the odds-on favorite. That’s not how the LA Times sees it . . .

It’s not clear yet what case his team will offer him, but every sign points to a bold interpretation of Obama’s executive authority. It would be the culmination of a shift in his thinking that began two years ago when the Senate decisively rejected firearms safety measures inspired by a spate of mass killings.

“His commitment to using his authority had been there since that day in 2013,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in an interview. “That’s when the president concluded that, unless there was a dramatic change in the political atmosphere, the only option was the administrative one.”

Why would the Prez come out of the despotic closet in San Bernardino, considering the fact that the killers surmounted the most repressive gun control laws in the country? Because Friday is news dump day. And because guns. Watch this space.

UPDATE: washingtontimes.com reports that the President will wait until after the holidays to announce his Executive Orders on gun control. We can hardly wait.

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103 COMMENTS

  1. and because doing anything major right before election season is a sure fire way to fire up the pro-gun and pro-right base. . . . .

      • I’m starting to believe that the Dem echo-chamber is actually convincing their candidates that “gun control is a winning position”, despite wide evidence to the contrary. And I’m really looking forward to them repeating the mistakes of the congressional election of 1994 (post AWB) and the presidential election of 2000 (hanging chads in Florida wouldn’t have been issue at all if Gore had carried his home state of TN, but he lost it due to gun control positions) all over again.

        And I’m just cynical enough to believe that Obama might be thinking that if there was a domestic attack over the holidays, then implementing questionable new executive actions on gun control would be far better AFTER such an attack, vs doing it beforehand and risking it being seen for what it really is — ineffective and useless.

        • Call me cynical too, but I’m sure somehow, he’s hoping for something dramatic during holidays… and if it can’t happen, they could still do it themselves. That’s how people with a very specific agenda do all the all…

    • I don’t think he can see beyond his narcissistic bubble enough to consider how his actions will impact anyone else. He was somewhat restrianed until after he was re-elected in 2012. Now? I wouldn’t put very much past him.

    • Or maybe Dirk is implying that Obama really, really doesn’t like Hillary! and isn’t all that keen on seeing her follow him to the WH. Which isn’t an unheard-of proposition.

    • “Right before election season” is the two weeks before ballots are cast for the average voter. Their memory isn’t much longer than that — both blue and red.

      O2

    • … and because he and his buddies have a ton of stock in the gun industry. Only 13 months left for the insider trading advantage!

    • Yes, this. The day before Christmas, and New Years Eve Day are historically popular days for politicians to enact new changes that would be potentially unpopular with the citizenry, if only anyone were paying attention.

      • The often dump unpopular stuff after the “news window” has closed on Friday. That way it slops around without much publicity until the Sunday morning shows when they have the troops briefed to go out to do the CYA performances on Meet the Depressed, etc.

        • Yes, that was my thought also.

          It is a given that unpopular legislation or political scandals of favored politicians make the news on Friday when most people are not paying attention.

  2. It’s been a few years since I purchased a firearm at a dealer, so I may be mis-remembering, but isn’t the only information transmitted over the phone during the NICS check “long gun” or “handgun”? The FBI wouldn’t be able to simply stop processing “assault weapon” background checks, because they don’t know when they’re occurring.

    Also, with regard to the “gun show loophole”. It would appear to me as though the media is trying to spin up this incoming news to mean that he’ll be enacting “universal background checks” at last, long last. I contend that, if he was going to attempt something this stupid, it would’ve been after Sandy Hook. He simply has no authority to do anything of that magnitude, and it would be challenged so often and so fast in the court systems that it would make his head spin.

    If he touches on the “gun show loophole” at all, it’s probably going to be some stupid little things about *actual* gun shows that will mean next to nothing. Lest we need reminding, EO’s can only affect the actions of the Executive Branch. He cannot simply make laws by Executive Order, and such attempts have been stonewalled by the courts in the past.

    Much ado about nothing, in my opinion. We shall see.

    • Even if attempts to mandate background checks for all private sales, the local police and sheriffs in most place probably won’t enforce it. The Feds don’t have the resources. People will by and large ignore the illegal order, the courts will strike it down later. No big deal.

      What we should be worried about most is if he orders the terrorist watch list dumped into the NICS system. Provided the staff will obey the order (and I think they almost certainly would), he CAN do that. And, if he does, he can also add to that list at will, with no oversight. That, too, will be struck down in the courts eventually. However, in the mean time, thousands, perhaps millions, of people could be prevented from legally purchasing a firearm, with no due process. Also, depended on how the order is worded, people that already own firearms could become prohibited persons. And any private party who sold a person on the list a firearm would technically be a criminal.

      • He can’t even do that since the statute defines what a dealer is. There is simply no penalty under law for ignoring his EO in person-to-person sales. The most he could do is lower the threshold.

        He can’t even add the watch lists to the prohibited persons list since prohibited persons are also defined in statute.

        At this point in his term all but the most leftwing judges will overturn EOs that exceed his authority. A liberal judge isn’t going to uphold EOs that would validate a Presidential power that a Republican could use to kill left wing initiatives.

        • I hope you are right. His admin has repeatedly done things it can’t do. I have no faith that he won’t become increasingly blatant. Again, I’ll be very happy to be wrong in this.

      • In Colorado we’ve been living with mandatory background checks on private transactions for about a year and a half. Most of the private transactions I’ve heard of have been compliant, but that admittedly is a small sample. It just fits the model that responsible gun owners are generally law abiding. I’m sure there are private transactions that don’t go through the system.

        The magazine ban, however (no magazines over 15 rounds, existing ones grandfathered) is routinely ignored. I’m aware of only one case recently where charges were brought, but this was a guy who was arrested for threatening to shoot people and burn down buildings. The magazine charge was just part of a laundry list of charges that the DA was piling on. Even the spineless governor here has backed away from the law, claiming that if he’d known the commotion it would cause his staff wouldn’t have committed him to support it, which is total BS.

    • One more thing. Suspending the processing of NICS check amounts to a 72 hour waiting period. Under the law after 72 hour you get the gun. Such an order would allow prohibited persons to buy guns from an FFL. It would actually do the exact opposite of what the EO was trying to accomplish.

      • After 72 hours the retailer CAN transfer the gun; but they are not REQUIRED to do so. In fact, some larger gun retailers (including Walmart, I believe) have “voluntarily” adopted (due to harassment by gun control groups) a policy that says they will NOT transfer a gun unless and until they have a “proceed” from NICS.

        • The retailer is never required to transfer a gun. If he sent in the NICS check, he will be ready in 3 days, especially once he understands the jackass in chief has ordered all firearm sales to halt.

    • Why shouldn’t Obummer do something major? His own Justice Department certainly isn’t going to do anything for overstepping his Constitutional authority. What is Congress going to do? Hold him in Contempt of Congress? So what. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is in Contempt of Congress and faced no sanctions whatsoever. And the U.S. Supreme Court certainly isn’t going to weigh in. (They have already demonstrated amply that they are avoiding Second Amendment cases like the plague.) Even if the U.S. Supreme Court did issue some sort of injunction, so what? Who is going to enforce the injunction? Justice Ginsburg or Kagan?

  3. I think he’s leaving “presents” for the next administration, hence the fed rate hike. The effect on the economy of rate hikes throughout 2016 won’t really be felt until 2017. And why wouldn’t he? He hates Hillary just as much as (name a Republican).

  4. If President Obama was really able to do something substantive, wouldn’t it have been done after Sandy Hook when the momentum was supposedly on the side of more control? Does anyone really think he had options at that time and chose not to implement them?

    it’s all smoke and mirrors – trying to push public opinion. He lacks the authority to do anything more than he has and he lacks the votes in congress to make headway on any new legislation. So the solution is to try to drive public outrage and pressure legislators to act without thinking.

    • Outside of Austin, everything I’ve seen is mostly conservative. Spent a lot of time in Texas in the last 5 years. Only state besides KY I’d consider moving to

      BTW, Kentucky has bought more guns this year than Texas.

      • It’s not where I live now, but I agree. Altho where I live now is pretty good, gun-culture wise (East Texas “piney woods”, couple of hours north of Houston). Far west Texas is thinly populated, but you may have to deal with local political fiefdoms.

    • If you want to contribute, it has to be Austin, hotbed of wild-ass liberals, the rest of the state would be better for kicking back and enjoying life among the sensible.

  5. We will see, but I think, it’ll be a lot of fluff to help with the up coming election year. So, the D’s can look like they’re “doing something.”

    He is a tool, not a leader; Hiliary is more of the concern for 2016, she has bigger balls.

  6. The optimist in me says “Bring it on! The republicans need all the help they can get next year.”
    The pessimist in me says “Oh crap! Better buy more ammo and lowers!”
    The realist in me says “Shut the hell up and sit back down” to the optimist in me.

  7. If, say, he decides to tell the FBI to not process NICS checks for “assault weapons” – assuming they know, see Russ’s post above – then the three-day clock starts (for most of the country).

    If it doesn’t come back “do not proceed” you get your evil death killing machine.

    If it does come back “do not proceed” and there’s no reason other than what type of gun it is, then you start your lawsuit against the executive branch for civil rights violations.

    • After 72 hours the retailer CAN transfer the gun; but they are not REQUIRED to do so. In fact, some larger gun retailers (including Walmart, I believe) have “voluntarily” adopted (due to harassment by gun control groups) a policy that says they will NOT transfer a gun unless and until they have a “proceed” from NICS.

  8. He couldn’t prevent background checks on “assault weapons” because the background check doesn’t include any information about the particular firearm you are trying to purchase. It’s only personal identity information.

    • He could order agencies to do things, like could order the CDC to do a study. The last time he did this after sandy hook he made a big show of it and when the results came back that didn’t support his argument it was swept under the rug without discussion. He could command another study but this time make sure the people doing it are nice and biased.

      He already screwed the pooch jumping on the gun issue early when it was a terrorist issue. It kind of showed where his head was at, biases and pet peeves distracting him and delaying his realization that there was a national security issue occurring. Walking it back would be smart, doubling down would be a huge embarrassment.

      He should issue an executive order to himself to “The President shall not assume he knows what is going on and spout off ignorantly on TV before he has a chat with your national security and law enforcement advisers.”

      The hypocrisy too, with the white house responding to many “we the people” petitions with “it’s our policy not to comment on currently ongoing criminal investigations.”

      But I guess Trayvon “could have been his son”. What about Philip Chism, could he be his son too? I don’t remember a presidential address related to this even more fantastical murder? Do you? It even occurred in a school!

      http://www.insideedition.com/headlines/13607-philip-chism-is-found-guilty-of-raping-and-murdering-his-math-teacher

      • “What about Philip Chism, could he be his son too? I don’t remember a presidential address related to this even more fantastical murder? Do you? It even occurred in a school!”

        And in the gun free paradise of Massachussetts

    • Even if it did include identifying information of the firearm, that is easily changed with a few lines of code. Here in Kaliforniastan, the state learned the hard way. The first 2 semi-auto firearm bans listed firearms by name. Manufacturers just changed the model name. The state would just re-open the registration to include new models. They eventually figured out that wasn’t working ans stopped that.The state then tried to ban all AR-15s and AKs. The courts ruled that was unconstitutionally vague. So now they ban them by features. Like all bans based on superficial cosmetic features, that hasn’t worked very well. We have the stupid bullet button. We also can build “featureless” rifles. These rifles don’t have evil features like a flash hider so that kittens and unicorns aren’t harmed in the making of the evil black rifle. You can also drop mags on featureless rifles. And we all know how successful the Kaliforniastan Assault Weapon ban has been in keeping terrorists from shooting up San Berdo.

  9. Today Obama travels to San Bernardino to meet with the families of victims of the mass shooting on Dec. 2, in which a couple murdered 14 people in a gun-free zone (No Guns allowed in County Buildings) in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 9/11.

    Funny thing is that President Obama, often complains that this an all too common and repetitive pattern, and for once he’s right; but sadly as is often the case, he’s focusing on the wrong issue “guns” when his (and the anti-2Amendment groups) failed policies of gun-free zones where the pattern and issue is “Gun Free Zones” and the nearly “Gun Free States” like California.

    Of Course this supposed “constitutional law professor” who apparently never learned the US Constitution, as it quite clearly and explicitly bars not only the President of the US, but US Congress and all 50 States from enacting ANY LAWS that “infringe” upon the US Citizens civil liberties to own/carry/display ARMS.

    It looks like President Obama, plans to unveil new Unconstitutional “executive orders” which are without legal authority to be binding on American citizens, as they only have legal authority and can only be used to by the Executive Branch to help manage operations within the Federal Government’s Executive Branch itself.

    If President Obama manages to succeed in exceeding his authority without being impeached and the LEA’s actually violate their oaths to the US Constitution, and follow these anticipated unconstitutional “executive orders”, we can expect these to contribute to the “all too common” problem that has plagued his Presidency and its failed policies, and can expect more lives to be endangered and lost as a result.

    • You should look at John Lotts comments on his arguments with Obama when they were both working at the same University of Chicago campus 15 years ago.

      Obama does not think citizens should have guns. Like Hillary he believes that the collective clause in the 2nd amendment is the only one that matters and that SCOTUS have “misinterpreted” the 2nd Amendment. If he or Hillary gets their way then there will be a solid liberal majority that will overturn the individual clause of 2A.

  10. Note to RF: In his last round of EO’s the big zero also ordered ATF to go ahead and pick a permanent Deputy Director, already (after a year or so with a “temporary” DD in place)–big stuff, indeed.

  11. Sigh., “in which a self-radicalized couple shot and killed 14 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9/11.” They were simply being devout in their practice of Islam.

    One just has to read the biography of Muhammad, the Koran and the Hadith and one can see that this couple and the mass murderers in Paris were simply emulating the “Last Prophet of Allah”(G-d).

    The truth will set you free.

    • Maybe we need an Amendment which “clarifies” the 1A as only pertaining to PEACEFUL religions, as soon as one directs murder of anyone, it is no longer protected.

      • Larry, have you read Muhammad’s biography, the Koran and the Hadith, yet?

        Until you do, you are spouting off from a place of complete, utter and abject ignorance.

        But if you want to be just another political correctobot, go right ahead,

        Because out of pretty much every other example, Islam is the only major religion that as you become more devout, you become more violent.

        • Thomas, Mohammed was illiterate, his “biography” is a lie. Meanwhile, the Koraan was not translated into a language you could read for over 1500 years, it was a secret kept only for people who learned a language Mohammed did not speak. Try educating yourself without using religious fictions invented by liars, child rapists and confirmed killers. I know how violent muslims are, how are you thinking I don’t? IOW, you might want to reread my post.

        • Auto biography is self-written. Biography is when others write it. Because Muhammad was illiterate.

          So the Koran was not written down until recently?. Attribution would be appreciated.

          So don’t believe the written word of the Koran and the Hadith? Just look for Muhammad’s actions of rape, pillage and plunder. Converting, subjugating or chopping the heads off of those refusing either choice is historically accurate .

          That is what those devout Muslims in Paris and San Bernardino were emulating, as all “good muslims” must.

          I never suggested that people’s 1st amendment rights should be denied for proven violent belief systems; otherwise communists and Marxists would be the first to be jailed, or evicted from the country.

  12. I believe the FBI has 3 days to process a background check and then the FFL must release the firearm to the buyer so no, this would not be a defacto ban on assault weapons. Just a delay.

    • Actually it is up to the individual retailer whether or not they complete the transfer after a “delay” status. Some refuse to complete the transfer unless they receive a “proceed” following the delay.

      • Correct. There is no “must transfer after 3 days” provision in the law.

        And several major gun retailers (including Walmart, I believe) have “voluntarily” made it store policy (after harassment by gun control groups) to NOT complete a transfer unless and until they get a “proceed” from NICS.

  13. If only Kalifornia had some sort of a law against purchasing weapons for someone else and illegally transferring them, oh wait.. yes, it does. And now we see just how effective those laws are: After the smoke clears, IF the straw purchaser identifies himself to authorities, he can be charged with a crime. I’m sure that’s a relief for the families of the victims in San Bernardino, which has shootings on a daily basis.

    • Facts are subjective to the assault media’s narrative. My wife got into it with several of her proggie co-workers about San Bernardino and she pointed out exactly what you wrote. All she got back was a bunch of denial quotes like, “That’s not true,” “So you think we should do nothing,” and my favorite, “That wasn’t what was reported in the news!” Confirmation bias is strong in anti’s. Just look at the responses under the WaPo’s “fact check” of Rubio’s “No proposed law would have prevented these killings” statement. Anti’s refuse to see facts even when their own shitty rags print an occasional truth.

    • The straw purchaser has already been arrested and charged for providing the rifles to the shooters… also since the principal shooter was able to legally purchase his handguns there would have been nothing stopping him from purchasing the rifles that were CA legal and then modifying them to accept standard mags, etc.

      • Yeah, they’re going to have some rough sledding to convict him of any crime, when neither he nor the shooter were restrained at all from purchasing any firearms they wanted. So, let’s go after him for entertaining superman fantasies about bombing and shooting, which he did not do. It’s like nobody has noticed that when the actual killing started, he was not there. He sounds to me like he’s a bit weak minded and really agreeable to any suggestion. Which, AFAIK, is not a crime.

  14. Who cares anymore. As if the GOP flunkies in Congress that aid and abet this commie creep are any better. They whine and moan about his tyranny then fully fund it.

    The long and short: gun gumbys will jack up prices and neckbeards will start hoarding again. Criminals will still get their guns. And the well prepared will already have their guns and ammo well stocked and avoid the circus.

  15. He could declare Salafist Islam the national religion in an executive order.

    That doesn’t mean that it would either have the force of law or that anybody would obey it.

    You couldn’t make a duck any lamer if you jammed its legs into the drive wheel of an M-1A2.

  16. Open to correction:
    A government employee and his wife, the latter in the U.S. on a government-approved visa;
    both devout practitioners of a particular ideology;
    slaughter 14 innocent people and wound 21 others, all primarily employees of government;
    unarmed due to laws enacted by government making armed self-defense illegal and government-established gun-free zone laws;
    in a government building;
    evidently absent any viable security.
    The couple’s ex-neighbor, said to have supplied the rifles used has now reportedly been charged with: conspiring with one of the attackers to provide material support including firearms and explosives; for crimes of terrorism; making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of firearms; and immigration fraud for a sham marriage to a distant relative to the one of the attackers.

    And the solution to the problem is ___.

  17. “President Obama could, for example, instruct the FBI not to process background checks on so-called “assault weapons,” which would effectively ban their sale.”

    For 72 hours, after which the sale goes through without their approval. Or sales to CHL holders, which do not require approval. The moron-in-chief will have to do better than that.

  18. I hope that POTUS draws a “red line” that Americans cannot cross. Because we all know how Obama’s last red line worked out.

    • Red Line against law abiding citizens? Check!

      Red Line against Islamic terrorists? Um, er, ahh, um, errrr, ah… “racist!”

  19. Never, in the history of this country, has their been a president more polarizing; more bent on dividing the people; more controversial, than Obama. His legacy is already cemented. He will go down as the worst president this country has ever known.

    • Of course you are correct. What is astounding is the fact anyone with a pulse didn’t see that BEFORE he was elected. If you voted for Obama in 2008? Punch yourself in the face 52 times. Voted for him in 2012? You should euthanize yourself for the good of humanity. Shameful that this vemin is President.

  20. It is a Friday…time when this administration does its dirtiest work and releases it, hoping for a weekend of forgetfulness.

    Not. Gonna. Happen.

  21. No secrets anymore-millions will make anything Bury Soetoro does big news. In Illinoisistan we already have background checks on all sales(legal ones)-ya’ gotta’ get a freakin’ check to sell to your own brother. And a 72 hour wait…bring it on Bury-you really must hate the hildebeast.

  22. “The president will wait until after the holiday to announce EO’s on gun control.”

    Because his lawyers still cannot find an end run around the constitution?

  23. I’m betting the most he does is try to push against private sales. He might ramrod the terror watch list as a part of NICS but he won’t be able to do anything specific to the actual guns. He has to make his leaps in increments big enough to do something for his side while staying small enough to keep people in “whine and complain” mode instead of “here we come for the next revolution” mode. Incrementalism leads to disarmament. Too big a step ends in his demise, and he knows it.

  24. “.. .a major change like closing the so-called gun show loophole.” So he’s going to close a loophole that doesn’t exist and that’s a, “major change.”? Or is he talking about requiring a BC for any transfer of arms? If it’s that he’s going to get a lot of push back from parents who want to give their child a Henry .22 for Christmas or from the son who gives a Remington 700 to his father.

  25. Bring it, we’ll rise up and…er, wait a minute, we’ll probably just keep signing up and signing away our lives to the politicians orders.

  26. Please can’t we all start ignoring Barack Hussein Obama II yet?
    I watched but fell asleep and later never heard anything on his plans but, I knew that it was supposed to be the plan he said after Oregon in October. Closing the gunshow loophole. But I suspect Bloomberg (douche) tried to get him to more.

  27. No gun control. These killings won’t stop with it. Obama has to wake up and stop being so polite and naive. Why didn’t Obama respond to those killings, like France and Russia did?

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