Obama bypasses Congress on gun control laws

Washington: During the past two years as his frustration with a “dysfunctional” Congress has grown, President Barack Obama has resorted to bypassing the legislative branch as he did on Wednesday to implement tighter gun control laws.

“Where they won’t act, I will,” he said in October 2011 as part of a “We Can’t Wait” campaign he launched 10 months after Republicans took over the US House of Representatives
Since then, the president has turned to executive orders, policy directives, waivers, signing statements and other administrative steps to bypass Congress and act on contentious issues, including immigration, welfare, education reform and now gun violence.

Acting in response to the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut, Obama announced 23 executive actions on Wednesday designed to ensure guns don’t get into the wrong hands. He called on the Congress to ban the sale of assault rifles, limit the size of ammunition clips and require background checks for all gun sales.

“Increasingly, what we’re seeing is a lot of the policy-making apparatus of the federal government shifting to the executive branch,” said William Howell, a University of Chicago expert on presidential powers.
[link to www.firstpost.com]