President Obamas plan på att ge en exekutiva order för att tvinga alla vapensäljare i USA att ha licens är en lovvärd men tyvärr mest en symbolisk handling. Vapenlobbyn är en massiv majoritet i Kongressen och trots att tobakslobbyn idag har tappat mark och t.o.m. Israellobbyn har snubblat, så förblir vapenlobbyn USA:s om Möjligt starkaste och farligaste lobbygrupp. En lobbygrupp som presidenten inte vågar korsa annat än genom en exekutiv order, som gör det möjligt för honom att kringgå kongressen.
Michaek D. Shear och Eeric Lichtblau skriver i New York Times att det enda Obama kan åstadkomma är att försöka få amerikanska myndigheter att följa lagen och genomföra bakgrundskontroll av alla vapenköpare: Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten Enforcement
President Obama will announce executive actions on Tuesday designed to expand background checks for firearms and step up federal enforcement of the nation’s gun laws, White House officials said Monday, once again trying to sidestep a gridlocked Congress on a divisive issue.
But Mr. Obama will stop short of the kind of large-scale changes that he unsuccessfully sought from Congress three years ago. That legislation would have closed loopholes that allowed millions of guns to be sold without background checks at gun shows or in online firearm exchanges.
Instead, Mr. Obama will merely clarify that existing laws require anyone making a living from selling guns to register as a licensed gun dealer and conduct background checks. White House officials said the president would note that criminal penalties already existed for violating those laws.
Gregor Aisch och Josh Keller Gun Sales Soar After Obama Calls for New Restrictions
More guns were sold in December than almost any other month in nearly two decades, continuing a pattern of spikes in sales after terrorist attacks and calls for stricter gun-buying laws, according to federal data released on Monday.
The heaviest sales last month, driven primarily by handgun sales, followed a call from President Obama to make it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.
Fear of gun-buying restrictions has been the main driver of spikes in gun sales, far surpassing the effects of mass shootings and terrorist attacks alone, according to an analysis of federal background check data by The New York Times.
Det här är en lovvärd symbolisk handling som visar att vapenvåldet i USA är en fundamental del av det amerikanska samhället, lika viktigt som Frihetsgudinnan, “Den Amerikanska Drömmen” och Hollywood. Ett sjukt fenomen utan vilket vi inte skulle ha dagens USA utan ett helt annat och betydligt trevligare och mindre farligt samhälle.
New York Times har på ledarplats skrivit om vapenvåldet och hur några få demokratiska delstater har tagit små, mycket små, steg i rätt riktning: Two Ways of Dealing With Guns
This is a big day for Texans yearning to flaunt their handguns in belt and shoulder holsters. A new “open carry” law enacted by the Republican Legislature goes into effect on Friday, posing a challenge for law enforcement, businesses and other institutions that are understandably wary of how social interchange will be affected.
It’s also a big day in Seattle, where the City Council’s new “gun violence tax” takes effect, levying a $25 charge on each gun sold and an ammunition tax of 2 to 5 cents per round. The law was upheld in December by a county judge, who found it did not interfere with the right to bear arms and was a legitimate tax to finance gun violence research and help pay for its costly effects. If it survives appeal by the gun lobby, the taxation route deserves to be widely used as a tactic in battling the gun menace.
The contrasting developments in Texas and Seattle demonstrate politicians’ tug of war over gun rights and civilian safety, which the gun lobby has been manipulating by pushing through state laws that block local governments from enacting needed ordinances.
Fler inlägg om Kalifornien