The far right is hopping mad over President Obama’s sweeping gun control plan.
Shortly after the commander-in-chief announced a sweeping series of steps to curb violence in the wake of the deadly Newtown, Conn. shooting several GOPers came out swinging against the plan, which includes 23 executive orders that don’t require Congressional approval.
Obama called for universal background checks for anyone trying to buy a gun, bans on military-style assault weapons, and a 10 round limit for magazines. “To make a real and lasting difference, Congress must act,” he said, surrounded by children who wrote letters to the president urging him to take action.
The executive orders included smaller actions, which include mandating federal agencies to make more data available for background checks, telling the Centers for Disease Control to do more research on gun violence and appointing a director to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“In the days ahead, I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make [such recommendations] a reality,” Obama said.
Not if they can help it, the president’s fiercest critics argue. The disapproval demonstrates what Obama and Congressional Democrats will be up against as they try to push forward proposals that can't be signed into law via executive order
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus put out a scathing release after Obama's press conference, arguing the president's series of gun control measures amount to an "executive power grab that may please his political base but will not solve the problems at hand." He added that Obama has "paid lip service to our fundamental constitutional rights, but took actions that disregard the 2nd Amendment and the legisilative process."
Republican Rep. Trey Radel of Florida—who said on Wednesday impeaching Obama should be “on the table,” tweeted shortly after the presser, “23 exec actions Obama plans to take to address guns—Dems ask yourselves: What if this were Rep Pres? Let’s have debate, not power grab.”
GOP Rep. Huelskamp of Kansas—who previously said Americans calling for gun control after the Newtown shooting were merely “politicizing” the tragedy– insisted Obama’s proposals were an affront to the Second Amendment and an abuse of power.
“The right to bear arms is a right, despite President Obama's disdain for the Second Amendment and the Constitution's limits on his power,” Huelskamp said in a statement.
“Congress must stand firm for the entirety of the Constitution—even if, but particularly so, when President Obama seeks to ignore his obligation to 'preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.' Taking away the rights and abilities of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves is yet another display of the Obama Administration's consolidation of power,” he added.
And Sen. Marcio Rubio of Florida is going as far to insist that “nothing the president is proposing” would have stopped the massacre in Newtown.
“President Obama is targeting the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens instead of seriously addressing the real underlying causes of such violence. Rolling back responsible citizens' rights is not the proper response to tragedies committed by criminals and the mentally ill,” he said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry echoed Rubio, insisting “very few of [Obama’s] recommendations have anything to do with what happened [in Newtown.]”
“Guns require a finger to pull the trigger. The sad young man who did that in Newtown was clearly haunted by demons and no gun law could have saved the children in Sandy Hook Elementary from his terror.”
Tea Party Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona called Obama’s plan an “unconstitutional gun grab."
The criticism comes as polls show most Americans want stricter gun laws in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.
The National Rifle Association --whose reps argues more guns, not less, are the answer to the violence --also slammed Obama's plan.
"Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation," the powerful gun lobby said in a statement "Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy." The group also vowed to "continue to focus on keeping our children safe and securing our schools, fixing our broken mental health system, and prosecuting violent criminals to the fullest extent of the law."