Politico's Reid Epstein reports that President Barack Obama will announce Wednesday his new plan to reduce gun violence, including proposals to ban high-capacity magazines, universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
In addition to the legislative proposals, the new plan includes 19 executive orders that the White House will implement unilaterally, according to reports Tuesday from POLITICO and the New York Times.
The executive orders, first detailed by Vice President Joe Biden in a meeting with House Democrats Monday, include:
- New limits on imported guns from overseas
- Allowing federal agencies to share mental health records
- Sharing of gun databases among federal and state agencies
- Direct the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to resume research on gun violence
- Increased enforcement of existing laws
- Prosecution of people who lie on background checks.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) told POLITICO that the executive orders were designed to reinforce existing laws, while getting as much as possible done independently from Congress in order to maintain political capital and frame the debate in a finite way.
President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton both used executive orders as a strategy to deal with gun control, so the plan is far from unprecedented. Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas indicated he would file articles of impeachment against the President if he used the strategy to address gun control.
SEE ALSO: An Eye-Popping Number Of People Support The NRA's Plan To Put More Armed Guards In Schools
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