WASHINGTON — US Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) on Monday responded to President Barack Obama’s planned executive actions on gun control, saying Mr. Obama wants the United States to “look more like Chicago,” the president’s violence-ridden hometown.
The Chicago Tribune noted in October of last year that someone in Chicago is shot once every 2.84 hours, in spite of the city maintaining the nation’s strictest gun control laws. A total of 468 homicides were reported in the Windy City in 2015.
President Obama is poised to announce executive actions that will push the United States toward Chicago-style gun policies, although the orders will fall short of the full-scale gun control the President desires.
The White House on Monday evening released details of the executive actions, which will include expanded background checks on gun purchases, additional federal agents to enforce gun laws and a $500 million expenditure to increase access to mental health care and to help “shape the future of gun safety technology.”
“The President and Vice President are committed to using every tool at the Administration’s disposal to reduce gun violence,” the White House said in a statement. President Obama will officially announce his executive actions at a press conference Tuesday morning.
In response to the announcement, Senator Shelby released the following statement:
The latest news that President Obama plans to circumvent Congress and attempt to restrict the constitutional right of the American people to keep and bear arms is unacceptable. The American people have witnessed time and time again a President who completely disregards the rule of law, the Constitution, and the separation of powers.
We must not allow our leaders to act like dictators just because they are repeatedly denied a political victory. From amnesty to gun control, the American people and Republicans in Congress will continue to say “no” the President’s out-of-control executive fiats.
None of the executive actions that we expect to hear from the President would have prevented the recent tragic events in our nation. Instead of looking for ways to truly put an end to violent crime and radical Islamic terrorism, the President is once again looking to score political points by taking away the rights of law-abiding Americans to protect themselves.
The President should know better than anyone that disarming law-abiding Americans will do nothing more than empower criminals. After all, his own hometown of Chicago has the strictest gun control laws in the country, yet its violent crime rate is among the highest in our nation.
President Obama wants America to look more like Chicago. I’m fighting for America to look more like Alabama. That is why I will work tirelessly to protect the Second Amendment and reverse any proposals by this President to restrict the constitutional rights of the American people.
Shelby, whose re-election bid has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, is a familiar foe to President Obama’s gun control efforts.
In the wake of the the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2013, Shelby was a vocal opponent of a bill sponsored by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that would have implemented gun control measures similar to what the President is now circumventing Congress to implement.
“More background checks today, gun registration tomorrow,” Shelby said at the time. “Who knows what will follow after that. Congress should reject it all now.”
The bill fell six votes short of passage. But similar to previous bills on climate change and immigration, when the legislative branch refuses to make the laws he wants, President Obama does it anyway. The question now will be what, if anything, will the legislative branch do in response?
