President Barack Obama signalled he is ready for a fight with House Republicans and the National Rifle Association over gun control when he announced the most far-reaching initiative on the issue in nearly 20 years.
“I intend to use whatever weight this office holds,” Mr Obama vowed. Referring to the December 14th massacre of 20 six and seven-year-olds and six adults at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut, he said, “This is our first task as a society; keeping our children safe . . . We can’t put this off any longer.”
More than 900 Americans have been killed by guns in the 33 days since Sandy Hook, Mr Obama said. “Every day we wait, that number will keep growing.” He spoke of Grace McDonald (7), who was shot dead at Sandy Hook and whose parents sat in the audience. “We must act now, for Grace. For the 25 other innocent children and devoted educators who had so much left to give.”
Executive orders
Republican congressmen have labelled Mr Obama a monarch and threatened impeachment over his decision to use executive powers to address America’s gun problem. He signed 23 executive orders at the White House ceremony yesterday, seated before four children who wrote to him in the wake of Sandy Hook. Republican Representative Steve Stockman of Texas likened their presence to Saddam Hussein’s use of children as props.
But executive orders, Mr Obama admitted, are minor compared to the force of legislation that he asked Congress to enact. He demanded three things: universal background checks for the purchasers of firearms; a ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for ammunition magazines; that Congress “help, not hinder” law enforcement by confirming his nominee as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, and voting funding to “put more cops back on the job”.
Up to 40 per cent of gun sales in the US are made without background checks. The purpose of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, such as those used in Aurora, Colorado, last July to kill 12 people and wound 58 others, is “to pump out as many bullets as possible, as quickly as possible”, Mr Obama said. “Weapons designed for the theatre of war have no place in a movie theatre.” There was applause when he noted Ronald Reagan had urged an assault weapons ban.
But the 10-year ban passed in 1994 contributed to the Democrats’ loss of their House majority. The Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, a gun-owner from Nevada, says he seeks to pass legislation capable of winning a majority of votes in the Republican-held House. Forty-seven per cent of House members received campaign funds from the NRA in the last election.
‘Common sense’ laws
Mr Obama called the laws he proposed “common sense measures” that enjoy the support of most Americans. “That doesn’t mean any of this is going to be easy to enact or implement,” he added, predicting that his opponents will try to block the reform. They will label his initiative a “tyrannical all-out assault on liberty,” he said, urging citizens to tell their congressmen they support the measures.
The president did not endorse armed security in every US school – the NRA’s answer to Sandy Hook. A television ad broadcast by the NRA calls Mr Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for allowing the Secret Service to protect his daughters.
“Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the ad asks. “Then why is he sceptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected?” The NRA has been criticised this week for distributing a target shooting game deemed suitable for children aged four and older. The game, called NRA: Practice Range, allows players to shoot at coffin-shaped targets.
Triggersmart: Irish entrepreneur in talks at White House over his new gun technology
An Irish entrepreneur has held talks at the White House with officials including the US attorney general about a new gun technology he has developed.
The White House and the commission chaired by vice-president Joe Biden have expressed an interest in Triggersmart, which is being developed by a Limerick-based company.
Triggersmart is a technology that works by radio frequency and would make it impossible for anybody, other than the authorised gun user, to pull the trigger of a gun. Such technology, if available, could have prevented the massacre by Newtown gunman Adam Lanza who used his mother’s guns.
A smart technology which would be unique to the gun owner has proved to be elusive to date. Limerick entrepreneur Robert McNamara, who is involved with his business partner Patrick O’Shaughnessy, developed Triggersmart in conjunction with Georgia Tech based in the US and in Athlone.
Triggersmart operates by radio-frequency identification, the same technology that Eazypass uses on toll roads and retailers use to stop shoplifters. Its developers have built two prototypes.
Triggersmart operates by a micro-transmitter implanted under the skin or embedded into a piece of jewellery that sends a signal to a receiver in the gun handle. If the wrong person attempts to pull the trigger, the gun jams.
Mr O'Shaughnessy met US attorney general Eric Holder and other White House officials last Friday. Mr McNamara has patented the technology in the US and has patents pending in 57 countries including 42 in Europe. RONAN McGREEVY
