Residents, politicians react to executive action taken on gun control
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MISSION VALLEY — President Obama took executive action on Jan. 4 in an attempt to curb gun violence in America. A highly polarizing topic, the measures are seen by some as much needed albeit modest legislation that will make Americans safer, while others see it as an infringement on the Second Amendment. A press release from the White House stated that the major changes proposed by the executive move will “keep guns out of the wrong hands through better background checks, make our communities safer from gun violence, increase mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system, and shape the future of gun safety technology.” Senator Steve Daines said that the order infringed on Americans’ Second Amendment rights. “President Obama is jeopardizing the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans with his latest efforts to undermine the Second Amendment. It is a gross abuse of executive authority for the President to unilaterally move forward his ineffective, anti-gun agenda with the stroke of his pen. As Montana’s voice in the United States Senate, I will continue to fight against President Obama’s endless assault on Montanans’ Second Amendment rights,” Daines said in a press release. Senator Jon Tester did not issue a press release concerning the President’s executive order, however, he is known for his strong support of the Second Amendment. In 2013 he voted no on banning high capacity magazines over ten bullets. Representative Ryan Zinke also said the President was infringing on Montanans’ Second Amendment rights. “Once again, President Obama is failing America and putting our nation at risk. Congress has already spoken and voted against these types of unconstitutional gun grabs,” Zinke said. One of the measures that was included in the order is to ensure that all potential gun purchases, whether through retail stores, guns shows or over the internet, are subject to a background check. The FBI will also overhaul and modernize their background check system so checks can be processed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The way the background checks worked before, was that they had to be processed within three days. If the check did not come back within that timeframe, the sale could proceed. The FBI will hire more than 230 additional staff members to help with the checks. A $500 million investment into mental health care was also proposed through the executive order. The Social Security Administration will begin a rulemaking process that will include information in the background check system about people who shouldn’t have access to a firearm because of mental health issues. The Department of Health and Human Services is working on removing legal barriers to States that report such information. Polson Chief of Police Wade Nash said that the new gun regulations will not change the way the police department performs their duties in Polson. “We treat everyone as if they should own a gun,” Nash said. He also said that he thinks mental health is at the root of the gun issue. He said Montana was 10 to 15 years behind dealing with mental health issues, but he believed they were on the right track with the opening of the Lake House, a new mental health facility in Polson. “We need to address the mental health issues in Montana. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. I can’t say 100 percent who is stable enough to have guns, but we need to remove liability for those that might make that call, such as doctors,” Nash said. Another provision of the executive order will require better enforcement and reporting of stolen guns to proper channels. Nash reminds gun owners to write down the serial numbers of their guns in case they are ever stolen. He referenced a gun that was stolen in 1985 and how it was found recently in Yakima, Washington. In 2014, there were 8,124 deaths by firearm in the US, according to the FBI’s database. While Montana is far from the legislative halls of DC, data retrieved from the Kaiser Family foundation, a nonpartisan non-profit organization that focuses on health care issues, highlighted that there were about 16.4 gun fatalities per 100,000 residents in Montana in 2014, compared to DC’s, 8.9 per 100,000 residents. “Anytime someone says anything about gun control, our guns sales go up,” Claudia McCready, the former owner of Gambles in St. Ignatius said. McCready cited a recent example prior to the executive order, when there was legislative talk about making assault weapons harder to purchase. She said she went on to her supply warehouse’s online site to see what was still in stock. McCready said all the lower end, least expensive assault weapons were completely out of stock. Four sporting good stores in the Mission Valley were contacted for this story; only McCready chose to respond to questions about the executive order and how the new regulations might affect their sales. The Executive Order also called for greater funding for research and development into smart gun technology. The press release states, “Millions of dollars have already been invested to support research into concepts that range from fingerprint scanners to radio frequency identification to micro stamping technology.” President Obama has issued 225 Executive Orders throughout his presidency, according to the National Archives. Former presidents George W. Bush issued 291, Bill Clinton issued 364, George Bush issued 166 and Ronald Reagan issued 381. President Franklin Roosevelt issued 3,522 executive orders.
