NRA: Obama Executive Orders on Guns Won't Stop Violent Crime

The National Rifle Association criticized President Barack Obama’s executive orders aimed at regulating “military-grade weapons” the U.S. sells or gives to allies from being imported back into the United States by private entities. The Associated Press reports:

In the last eight years, the U.S. has approved 250,000 of those guns to come back to the U.S., the White House said, arguing that some end up on the streets. From now on, only museums and a few other entities like the government will be eligible to reimport military-grade firearms.

The ban will largely affect antiquated, World War II-era weapons that, while still deadly, rarely turn up at crime scenes, leaving some to question whether the new policy is much ado about nothing.

Additionally, the AP reports another proposed Executive order:

The Obama administration is also proposing to close a loophole that it says allows felons and other ineligible gun purchasers to skirt the law by registering certain guns to a corporation or trust. The new rule would require people associated with those entities, like beneficiaries and trustees, to undergo the same type of fingerprint-based background checks before the corporation can register those guns.

Using the rule-making powers at his disposal, Obama can only place that restriction on guns regulated under the National Firearm Act, a 1934 law that only deals with the deadliest weapons, like machine guns and short-barreled shotguns. For the majority of weapons, there is no federal gun registration.

The National Rifle Association responded to the Obama administration EO’s. In a statement to Breitbart News, the NRA’s Director of Public Affairs, Andrew Arulanandam, wrote:

The Obama administration has once again completely missed the mark when it comes to stopping violent crime. Requiring background checks for corporations and trusts does not keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. Prohibiting the re-importation of firearms into the U.S. that were manufactured 50 or more years ago does not keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. This administration should get serious about prosecuting violent criminals who misuse guns and stop focusing its efforts on law-abiding gun owners.

Additionally, reports have arisen that the century old Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), considered to be a “private entity” that receives firearms from the U.S. military, is threatened by the Obama administration’s gun control measures.  

John Lott, author of More Guns Less Crime, pointed out at Fox News.com that the “administration doesn’t provide examples of people using a corporation to register handguns or semi-automatic rifles as a way to bypass criminal background checks… and fails to to point to any cases where such guns have been used in crimes.” Furthermore, Lott argues that the fully automatic machine guns in question have a price tag outside of the budget of the average American, costing around $20,000 per firearm.