Obama weighing executive action on guns

Posted: Tue 7:20 AM, Jan 15, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is tackling the issue of gun violence by weighing 19 steps that could be taken through executive action alone, congressional officials say.

Those steps could include ordering stricter action against people who lie on gun sale background checks, striking limits on federal research into gun use, ordering tougher penalties against gun trafficking, and giving schools flexibility to use grant money to improve safety.

Obama is expected to unveil his proposals as early as Wednesday, barely over a month since the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school.

At the same time Obama is vowing not to back off his support for sweeping gun legislation that would require congressional backing, despite opposition from the influential gun lobby.

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