Obama's Gun Control Proposals Include Assault Weapon Ban, Background Checks for Gun Purchases

President Barack Obama unveiled "the most sweeping effort at gun control policy reform in a generation" Wednesday, according to the Huffington Post.

"This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged," Obama said in HuffPo. “We can’t put this off any longer."

Obama called for the following:

• Reinstate lapsed ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
• Requiring background checks on all gun purchases.
• Ban armor piercing ammunition.
• Called on Congress to confirm a new director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
• Improve access to mental health services and provide information to mental health professionals who want to report threats of violence.
• Provide incentives for schools to hire resource officers, should they choose to, to step up school security.

These recommendations will require Congressional approval. The administration also plans to enact 23 executive actions, such as (according to the Huffington Post): 

• "Requiring federal agencies to hand over relevant data for a background check system
• Providing law enforcement officials, first responders and school officials with better training for active shooting situations
• Directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence"

Do Obama's recommendations seem like a common sense approach to you, or are you concerned about the rights of gun owners? Tell us what you thought in comments below. 

Get breaking news alerts and follow us on Facebook for more news:

• Get the free Bolingbrook e-newsletter. 
• Like Bolingbrook Patch on Facebook.