President Barack Obama could issue executive orders aimed at reducing gun violence as early as Monday, provoking a battle with Republicans on Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trial.
“Tens of thousands of our fellow Americans have been mowed down by gun violence. Tens of thousands,” Obama said in his weekly address Saturday. “Each time, we’re told that commonsense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, so we shouldn’t do anything.”
“We know that we can’t stop every act of violence. But what if we tried to stop even one? What if Congress did something – anything – to protect our kids from gun violence?” the president added.
Months before terrorist-inspired carnage in San Bernardino, California, and the shooting rampage at an Oregon community college, the White House began studying actions the president could take to reduce gun violence. Those steps are expected to be finalized at a meeting Monday between Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.