Obama to Discuss Possible Executive Actions on Gun Violence with Attorney General Loretta Lynch

As President Barack Obama enters his last year, he is making one final push to curb gun violence and solidify gun control as part of his legacy. On Monday, he is scheduled to meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday to discuss his options for executive action on the issue, CNN reports. 

After prior gun control initatives have been consistently stalled or tossed by Congress, White House sources noted that the administration would pursue executive action, most likely to boost background check requirements for sellers, CNN reports. 

“While we don’t yet know the details of the plan, the President is at minimum subverting the legislative branch, and potentially overturning its will,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement on Monday.

“His proposals to restrict gun rights were debated by the United States Senate, and they were rejected. No President should be able to reverse legislative failure by executive fiat, not even incrementally.”

The president announced New Year’s Day in his radio address, that he would be meeting with Lynch to “discuss our options.” 

“I get letters from responsible gun owners who grieve with us every time these tragedies happen; who share my belief that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to bear arms; and who share my belief we can protect that right while keeping an irresponsible, dangerous few from inflicting harm on a massive scale,” Obama pointed out in his address. 

The meeting comes two days before a scheduled town hall on Thursday with the president, to be aired on CNN, to dicuss these efforts leading up to Obama’s final State of the Union address, in which guns may be heavily emphasized, the network notes. The townhall, CNN notes, comes the day before the fifth anniversary of the Arizona shooting that six dead and 14, including former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, wounded. 

Read more at CNN here and here. 

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