WASHINGTON – Tuesday, President Obama laid out a short list of executive actions that he intends to use to stop gun violence in America. He said how to stop the violence has become America's "single most polarizing partisan debate."
"This is not to debate the last mass shooting, but to do what we can to prevent the next one," the president said in his comments, accompanied by parents whose children were killed in the Shady Hook Elementary in 2012.
Illinois Congressman John Shimkus responded immediately on his Facebook age.
"These actions will not hold up in court. They will not stop gun violence. And they will be met with a legislative response because we, conservative Republicans in Congress, do not take kindly to people touching the Bill of Rights."
Illinois Congressman Mike Bost wrote:
Ever since taking office, the President has made it clear he was taking aim at Americans' Constitutional right to bear arms. Today is no exception. The President’s actions are not only legally dubious, but they impose substantial burdens on law-abiding citizens while doing little to nothing to stop criminals.
As a father and grandfather, I’ve shared in the heartbreak we all feel when news breaks of another tragedy. That being said, if the President was serious about stopping the criminal use of firearms, he would more rigorously enforce existing laws rather than sidestepping Congressional authority and trying to make the laws himself.
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger said:
Time and again, the President has chosen to push his authoritative agenda with little regard for Constitutional process. I agree that we need to be making sure those who shouldn’t get guns are not able to do so, but the actions laid out today will do nothing to achieve those results.
The President has chosen politics over substance by pursuing regulations that will not solve the issue of gun violence, but will instead hinder the Constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. The violence we are seeing requires action, but the action must solve the problem and not be forced upon the American people.
C-SPAN has made the president's comments viewable HERE.
