Don’t be misled by the hyperbole and rhetoric from gun lobbyists and politicians. President Barack Obama is on target with his efforts to stem gun violence in our country, although he must tread carefully along the proverbial slippery slope of undermining the Constitution.

In an emotional speech Tuesday, the president announced a series of executive orders that will strengthen the existing framework of laws and close some of the long-ignored loopholes when it comes to background checks for gun buyers and vendor licensing for gun sellers.

“Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that common-sense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying,” Obama said. “I reject that thinking. We know we can’t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence.”

Not surprisingly as we move fully into a presidential election year, the right side of the political aisle was immediately up in arms over this perceived affront to the right to bear arms.

As has been the case for years, the rhetoric was filled with scare tactics and partisan politics; several presidential candidates and GOP politicians didn’t let the facts get in the way of their narrative that these orders take guns away from the American people.

Let’s be very clear. They do not. No one is taking your guns away in Michigan or California or anywhere in between.

None of the executive orders do anything to remove guns from law-abiding citizens. They just don’t.

What they, in fact, do is require more gun sellers to be federally licensed and therefore to conduct background checks on those seeking to buy firearms. This helps tighten the loophole of businesses that operate primarily on the Internet and at gun shows.

The measures also include hiring additional personnel to help run background checks and to focus on enforcing the existing laws. The president also proposed spending an additional $500 million on mental health screenings and education.

Would these measures have prevented any of the recent mass shootings in our country? It is impossible to say for sure. At the very least they help level the playing field when it comes to gun sellers having the same set of rules and will hopefully spark meaningful conversation within Congress that could lead to more far-reaching reform.

Republicans and organizations like the NRA also quickly fired shots of their own, claiming these orders blasted holes in the Second Amendment. Once again, this is more about inflaming their supporters than it is reality.

However, make no mistake, the president is walking a very thin line.

Obama’s orders fall within his power as president, but when the executive branch starts using starts using its power to impact freedoms outlined in the Constitution there is certainly cause for concern. The president must tread carefully here or risk weakening the document our nation is built upon, something of which he is fully aware.

“We all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech, but we accept that you can’t yell ‘fire’ in a theater. We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people,” Obama said. “We cherish our right to privacy, but we accept that you have to go through metal detectors before being allowed to board a plane. It’s not because people like doing that, but we understand that that’s part of the price of living in a civilized society.”

It is often said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

For me, far worse would be to sit back and do nothing at all. Our country has done that long enough.

 

Michael Caldwell is the publisher of Leader Publications LLC. He can be reached at (269) 687-7700 or by email at mike.caldwell@leaderpub.com.