President Obama is considering using an executive order to enact new gun control measures, according to Vice President Joe Biden. Before a meeting with victims of gun violence on Wednesday morning, Vice President Biden revealed that the White House may be pursuing such a step. The statement is drawing harsh criticism from media outlets on the right.
"The president is going to act," said Biden, as reported by the Weekly Standard. "There are executive orders, there's executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet. But we're compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action that we believe is required."
New action on gun control has been discussed by politicians in recent weeks in the wake of the shooting incident in Newtown, Conn., and several other mass shooting incidents that have occurred in recent years. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come out strongly in favor of new gun control laws, as have lawmakers like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
On Tuesday, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal came out in favor of stricter gun control laws during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” He referred to the types of weapons used by gunmen in recent shootings saying, "I personally don't think there's any need for that kind of weaponry on the streets and particularly around the schools in America… we have to protect our children and our police and we have to protect our population. And I think we have to take a very mature look at that."
The news that the White House may be considering an executive order on gun control has caused a stir among conservative media outlets. On Wednesday afternoon, the story was the front headline on Breitbart, with a cover headline referring to the potential measure as, “Unprecedented."
As Vice President Biden stated, the White House has not yet determined what course of action may be taken by them on this issue, but the response from the critics of the president and of gun control laws has already been harsh.
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