“Anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks or be subject to criminal prosecutions,” Obama stated.
According to Obama, the US government is implementing measures to improve the existing background check system to prevent criminals from purchasing arms.
“We are also taking steps to make the background check system more efficient,” Obama stated. “We are going to hire more folks to process applications faster, and we are going to bring the outdated background check system into the 21 century.”
Moreover, the United States will augment its background check system by guaranteeing mental health records are sent to the weapons background probes.
“We are going to ensure that [US] federal mental health records are submitted to the background check system and remove barriers that prevent states from reporting relevant information,” Obama stated in his announcement at The White House.
“That’s why we are going to invest $500 million dollars to expand access to treatment across the country,” Obama explained. “Nearly two in three gun deaths are from suicides.”
However, according to the US president, significant changes in US gun laws will not happen in the coming year.
"Yes, it [implementing safer gun laws] will be hard. And it won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen during this Congress. It won’t happen during my presidency," Obama said.
The president underscored that the executive action on guns does not violate US citizens’ constitutional rights concerning bearing and keeping arms.
Gun control has become a major issue after a wave of massacres by Islamic extremists and mentally disturbed individuals swept the United States in 2015.
