Will Obama’s Executive Action On Guns Be Effective In Solving The Gun Control Issue?

Barack Obama recently announced a series of actions on gun control which are being considered executive actions that surpass every other governmental authority. What Obama believes to be a much needed dictatorial decision on the issue of gun control has been analyzed, and it looks like Obama hasn’t done much for gun control at all.

Most Americans are in agreement with President Obama and his executive action, according to a recent ORC International with CNN. But those same Americans are reportedly very weary of what the president’s executive actions will actually do to help the ongoing issue of gun violence in America. Others are concerned that the action on guns violates the U.S. Constitution, which begs the question, what exactly has Barack Obama done to enforce gun control?

Obama’s new legislation includes 23 executive actions on guns, and the first six actions alone address the issue of background checks. Over the years, there have been two extensive studies on the issue of gun control and how background checks could potentially help the situation. However, the results from these studies may not be on Obama’s side.

First, in 1995, researchers analyzed a law in the state of Connecticut, which required background checks prior to the purchase and registration of a gun. The results show that once this law was put in place, the state showed a 40 percent decline in homicides and a 15 percent decline in suicides. More recently, a 2007 study of Missouri gun laws, which had recently dropped its requirement for citizens to have a permit to purchase a gun, showed that homicides rose by 23 percent and suicides by 16 percent. Some law analysts considered the Missouri study to be groundbreaking proof that requiring registration for gun ownership is a vital part of the gun control issue. However, the same studies prove that this is only a small part of the battle.

Out of Obama’s 23 executive actions on gun control, six of them make reference to the issue of mental health awareness which many, including Obama, believe to be a huge part of the many mass murders in the country. These actions include forcing health insurance and healthcare providers to allow law enforcement to access mental health records during the gun background checks and launching a national dialogue on mental health. Overall, his efforts appear to be necessary, but the way he enforced them is not favorable to many Congressman and other governmental officials. Recently, Obama revealed the true reason for his executive action on gun control.

“I get too many letters from parents and teachers and kids to sit around and do nothing.”

Letters from parents, Obama’s tears and a speech on the issue of gun violence has led over 40 percent of the American public to side with Obama and his executive actions. A mere 21 percent of the population are completely opposed to the action on guns. Still with his many supporters, most Americans don’t believe his executive actions will actually cause gun violence to decline. Specifically 75 percent of Americans believe that these new gun laws will fail to reduce gun related deaths as reported in the ORC poll. Presidential hopeful Chris Christie, is accusing President Barack Obama of acting against democracy with his latest executive action.

“Now this president wants to act as if he is a king, as if he is a dictator. Fact is, if he wants to make changes to these laws, go to Congress and convince the Congress that they’re necessary. But this is going to be another illegal executive action, which I’m sure will be rejected by the court.”

Research on background checks show that the president’s new gun laws will help a bit, but with the other laws being new, there is no way to tell if he will successfully defeat gun violence. Obama does not even have Democratic support as 78 percent of the Democrats who participating in the recent poll also opposed Obama’s executive action on guns.

[Feature image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]