Obama is pushing for a safer America.
As Barack Obama has noted in previous speeches, mass shootings in the US are simply part of the routine. Gun deaths have their fixed slot on the news alongside sports and the weather.
The President has announced that he will be signing an executive order with the intention of reducing gun crime across America.
Obama has ordered that anyone in the business of selling firearms must be fully licensed to do so, and run comprehensive background checks, or be in violation of the law.
He further ordered that these checks would be strengthened, and that any gun retailers would be made aware through a background check if their customer has a diagnosed mental illness (two out of three American gun deaths are suicides).
Obama announced plans to hire 200 new investigators to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacca and Firearms (ATF), and invest €500 million in making sure people with mental illnesses have better access to treatment through Obamacare.
Add your name if you think it's time for Congress to stand up to the gun lobby and help #StopGunViolence. https://t.co/Zyaa4b6QNk
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 5, 2016
Perhaps most interestingly, Obama announced his intention to improve gun safety through technological developments, saying:
“You can’t unlock your phone without fingerprint – why not have the same for guns? We have technology to find a missing iPad – why not for guns? If a child can’t open a bottle of aspirin – we should make sure they can’t pull a trigger on a gun.”
Obama tearfully spoke of the many high profile mass shootings that have scarred America since the 1990s – a phenomenon that only appears to be intensifying as time goes on.
"Fort Hood
Binghamton
Aurora
Oak Creek
Newtown
The Navy Yard
Santa Barbara
Charleston
San Bernardino
Too many."
—@POTUS#StopGunViolence— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) January 5, 2016
An executive order is an action that has the full force of law, bypassing the need for Congressional approval. Obama acknowledged that this will not solve America’s gun problems, but noted that issues of such magnitude are rarely solved overnight.
At the very least, it is a solid first step.
