The NYT has a link to the text of the White House proposals here, and you can find a Washington Post graphic describing the proposals more succinctly here.
The graphic describes six categories with a total of 30 specific proposals, some are executive orders, which the president signed immediately, the rest are proposals for legislation that Congress has to pass. I think one helpful thing for us to do in class would be to determine why some of these proposals can be accomplished through the executive orders and why others require legislation.
The six categories are:
- background checks
- assault weapons
- gun violence research
- gun safety
- school safety
- mental health
With the exception of the requirement for universal background checks for all gun purchases - which requires legislation - all these proposals have been implemented with an executive order. Most are focused on helping fine tune, develop and implement a database that will allow for background checks. Some is focused on ensuring that this is done across the states.
All of the proposals for assault weapons require congressional action. The president cannot impact policy with an executive order. The proposals are familiar - reinstate the ban on assault weapons, limit the size of magazines to ten bullets, and ban armour piercing bullets.
One directive involving gun research was done with an executive order - the one mandating that the Center for Disease Control investigate gun violence. Gun rights supporters in Congress have attempted to limit such research in the past. The other two proposals (1) ask Congress to fund additional research into the relationship between violent video games and gun violence (it will be interesting to see what position the NRA takes on this since they argue that video games are at the root of gun violence - could be a clever ploy by the administration), and (2) fund an expansion of the National Violent Death Reporting System which collects information regarding gun violence that can then be studied.
All of the proposals regarding gun safety are to be implemented by executive order. Some involves promoting gun safety and improving gun safety technology.
School safety proposals are evenly split between those requiring legislation and those that only need an executive order. Those requiring legislation seek to find funding for schools to hire "school resource officers, school psychologists, social workers and counselors," "help school districts develop emergency management plans," and "train their teachers and staff to create safer and more nurturing environments." The executive orders focus on helping schools develop emergency plans, improve school discipline, and involve police department more in schools. The term "school resource officer" is used a couple places. With apologies, its new to me. It seems to refer to having officers in the schools.
Mental health proposals are also split evenly between executive orders and legislation - 4 each for a total of 8. Again, the legislation involves a request for funding for various items. All are related to expanding access to mental health, and increasing the number of mental health professional that can provide mental health services. Some of the executive orders involve the implementation of the parts of the Affordable Care Act that deal with mental health, as well as Medicaid. In addition, one will launch a national dialogue on mental illness.
I predict we will be following these as the proceed through their respective channels.
