Obama’s Unconstitutional Gun Executive Orders

Once again, President Barack Hussein Obama has violated his oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution by creating his own so-called “gun safety” legislation. During his teary, well-orchestrated White House pronouncement, he essentially said that if only one life is saved as a result of his unconstitutional action, it’s worth the effort. I’m afraid his proposals are more likely to cause more death by creating further delays and unnecessary expense to acquire firearms. What he and his gun grabbing supporters either fail to realize, totally ignore, or simply don’t care, is that the president cannot point to even one incidence in which a gun purchased at a gun show, without benefit of a background check of the purchaser, was used in a “mass shooting,” or any other crime of violence. The president, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, along with all other members of the anti-Second Amendment crowd, always point to the gun as the reason for a shooting incident. The president cited the latest terrorist incident in San Bernardino, California as one reason for his unlawful Executive Orders. What he failed to mention was that the semi-automatic rifles Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife, Tashfeen Malik used to murder 14 people, were purchased by a family friend, Enrique Marquez. Marquez, who had no criminal record, purchased the weapons on behalf of Farook to disguise who the true possessor of the weapons would be. This is known as a “straw purchase,” and is a federal felony. Marquez’s illegal purchase was likely one of tens of thousands of such attempts each year. According to the Department of Justice, in 2002, 60,739 persons were denied firearms purchases because they did not pass the necessary background check; yet, only 141 were prosecuted. If the president wants to enhance “gun safety,” he should direct his 93 United States Attorneys to make prosecuting straw purchasers a priority, and not an option. The entire investigative process would take about five minutes. An ATF agent would only have to match documentation of a felony conviction, dishonorable discharge, domestic violence conviction, involuntary mental health treatment, etc. to prove that the purchaser lied on the required federal forms. When law enforcement discovers people like Marquez purchased weapons for someone else, they also should be prosecuted. The U.S. attorney in the Central District of California, where San Bernardino lies, has decided to do just that. But, what about all the other people who lied on the federal forms when they attempted to purchase a firearm? Why not go after them, too to serve as a deterrent to others? From my experience working with many assistant United States Attorneys, they view lying on a federal form as one of the lowest priorities when compared to other more serious matters they have to handle. Also, such a case is not very “sexy” when it comes to career advancement, such as joining a prestigious law firm, or being appointed to the bench. That has to change. In addition, the president decreed that he would hire 200 more ATF special agents and over 200 more FBI employees to conduct instant background checks. Whatever the president’s motivation may be, he can’t just wave a magic wand and appropriate money to hire these people – that’s Congress’ job. So, most of his Executive Order is completely meaningless. If the president was sincere about curbing “gun violence” he should halt the migration of Syrian refugees, many of which are sympathetic to ISIS, and whose backgrounds are unknown. Instead, he wants to expand background checks on law abiding citizens instead of Syrian refugees, and completely ignores common sense measures to keep this country safe. The president should also stop issuing visas to all Muslims, for any reason, until ISIS is defeated. There is no guarantee these people are not jihadists waiting for the opportunity to replicate the events in San Bernardino, Paris, Chattanooga, Modesto, Little Rock, and other places. President Obama should hasten, not delay or prevent the deportation of criminal illegal aliens, many of which perpetrate gun violence on Americans. The president needs to stop blaming the gun, and recognize that the person holding it is the one ultimately responsible for violence, not the gun itself.