Defiant Obama To Reveal Gun Control Measures

Barack Obama is to introduce a number of executive actions to try and reduce gun violence, beginning his last year in office with a defiant show of power.

The President will ignore Congressional opposition and announce on Tuesday a series of unilateral steps to regulate gun sales and curb illicit purchases.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who met with Mr Obama on Monday, said the measures would see stricter rules on who must register as a gun dealer, narrow loopholes that allow buyers to avoid background checks and a crackdown on "straw purchases" that see weapons bought through intermediaries.

Republicans, gun manufacturers and weapons enthusiasts have criticised the new measures, claiming they are an infringement on constitutional freedoms, but ahead of the announcement Mr Obama insisted the measures would be "well within my legal authority".

Around 30,000 people are killed in gun violence every year in the US, the majority of them by suicide.

During Mr Obama's two terms in office he has often shown frustration at Congress' refusal to tighten gun controls.

The measures stop short of introducing universal background checks or registering or collecting some of the more than 300 million guns thought to be in circulation around the US, moves that gun control advocates say are essential.

Mr Obama admitted his executive actions were "not going to solve every violent crime in this country. It's not going to prevent every mass shooting. It's not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal."

"It will," he said, "potentially, save lives in this country" and spare families heartache.

But Mr Obama's strategy invites political and legal risk.

Republicans who control Congress have positioned themselves as the champion of gun owners, who make up a large voting bloc in many areas that could decide 2016 election races.

Mr Obama's move could put pressure on some of his Democratic allies who face tough electoral battles this autumn.

Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has accused the President of "dismissiveness" towards Americans who value the constitutional right to bear arms.

"We all are pained by the recent atrocities in our country, but no change the president is reportedly considering would have prevented them," he said.

"We have seen consistently that an underlying cause of these attacks has been mental illness."

"This is a dangerous level of executive overreach, and the country will not stand for it," Mr Ryan warned.

Polls had shown most Americans support tougher gun laws, but that backing has ebbed recently amid concerns about Islamic State and the wider terrorism threat.

On Thursday, Mr Obama will take part in a primetime town-hall style debate on gun control to make his case.

A more serious challenge to the President's plans may come in the courts.

Mr Obama's lawyers have spent months "scrubbing" existing laws to see where rules could be tightened and loopholes closed, while surviving inevitable court challenges.

"A lot of the work that has gone on behind the scenes to take a look at what the president can do using his executive authority has been grounded in the knowledge that the gun lobby and the Republicans in Congress who regularly do their bidding are going to look for ways to try to stop it," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.