PRESIDENT OBAMA’S GUN CONTROL PROPOSAL:  President Obama calls for $500 million program of executive actions, legislative proposals to curb gun violence:  @AP

President Obama said, ”Along with our freedom to live our lives as we will comes obligation to allow others to do the same.”

He called for an assault weapons ban, says ‘weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater.’

“The only way we can change is if the American people demand it.” —President Obama

@WHLive: President Obama: “Let me be absolutely clear: like most Americans, I believe the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms.”

Here is the list of President Obama’s executive actions on gun control:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director (Todd Jones).

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

What part of this proposal is so repugnant to the NRA? In other words, they don’t really care about the lives of anyone taken senselessly through gun violence. The president isn’t taking away anyone’s right to bear arms. Why do you need an assault rifle? To hunt?

Here’s an interesting take from the New York Times:

Wednesday’s announcement reflected a decision by the White House to seize on public outrage to challenge the political power of the National Rifle Association and other forces that have successfully fought new gun laws for decades.

In an emotionally charged event, Mr. Obama stood on a stage with four young children who he said had written to him asking for stronger gun laws. Invoking the memory of a young girl named Grace McDonnell who was killed in the Newtown shootings, the president vowed not to let the momentum for new, tougher gun laws fade.