President Obama laid out his case today for taking executive action on gun control.
His White House address was in front of a friendly audience that cheered him on.
However, he faces a much tougher sell among Republicans. Every GOP presidential candidate has blasted his action. Ahead on AT, legal questions about the President's actions, whether they'd have a positive effect, and how they factor into the Presidential race.
President Obama has unveiled new requirements that all gun sellers to register as dealers - even those who sell at gun shows and online - and to run background checks on all prospective purchasers, aiming to curb a scourge of gun violence despite unyielding opposition to new gun laws in Congress.
In a bid to narrow the so-called gun show loophole, the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will issue updated guidance that says the government can consider someone a gun dealer regardless of where he or she sells the guns, officials said. Only federally licensed gun dealers must conduct background checks on buyers, and gun control advocates say people who sell guns outside of gun stores exploit that provision to skirt the background check requirement.
We’ll look at the legal viability of the president’s proposed executive action, how advocates on both sides of the issue feel about the measures, and put the political messaging in some larger perspective.
With Files from AP
Guests:
Sam Paredes, Executive Director of Gun Owners of California
Amanda Wilcox, attorney for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Adam Winkler, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
Ben Tulchin, democratic pollster and strategist with Tulchin Research and Bernie Sanders’ pollster
Lisa Camooso Miller, Republican strategist and partner at Blueprint Communications, public affairs firm based in D.C.