WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is slated Monday to finalize a set of new executive actions tightening U.S. gun laws, kicking off his last year in office with a clear signal that he intends to prioritize one of the country’s most intractable issues.
At a meeting with top law enforcement officials, Obama is expected to sign off on a package of proposals aimed at curbing gun violence and cracking down on unregulated gun sales.
WATCH: Obama focused on finalizing a set of new executive actions tightening U.S. gun laws
The president is looking for ways to work around a Republican-led Congress that has blocked his previous efforts to tighten gun laws in the wake of mass shootings. Obama has accused Republicans – and some Democrats – of being beholden to the powerful gun industry lobby and opposing some measures he says a majority of Americans support, including expanded background checks on gun sales. But the issue of gun control bitterly divides Americans, with many viewing any attempt to regulate firearms as a possible infringement on their constitutional rights to own guns.
READ MORE: Gun violence top issue as Obama returns for final year in the White House
At the top of Obama’s list is an effort to expand background checks on gun sales by forcing more sellers to register as federally licensed gun dealers. The changes would be aimed at some unregistered sellers who skirt the background check laws by selling at gun shows, online or informal settings. Other moves being considered include improving reporting of lost and stolen weapons and beefing up inspections of licensed dealers, according to a person familiar with the plans who would not be named discussing proposals before they are finalized.
The package includes measures this White House has long considered but not completed, mindful of the legal fight sure to follow as well as the potential for political backlash for some fellow Democrats.
But after a steady string of mass shootings and with the clock on his tenure ticking down, Obama appears primed to push further than he has in the past.
“We definitely think there are things he can do,” said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates for expanding background checks. Gross says his recent conversations with White House aides have left him hopeful.
“It’s very clear that the White House is feeling emboldened,” he said.
READ MORE: Obama to impose stricter gun control laws
After all-but ignoring the issue in his first term, Obama changed course after the December 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. The president failed to push a package of gun measures through Congress, including one expanding background checks.
At the same time, Obama took nearly two dozen executive actions to tighten gun laws, but left a major expansion of background checks out of the mix.
But after the shooting at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon in October, a weary and angry Obama ordered his staff to redouble the effort to look for ways to work around Congress.
On Thursday, Obama will take his argument to prime time, participating in a town hall discussion of gun violence on CNN. He’s slated to make his case for changes in his State of the Union address on Jan. 12.
Under current law, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to seek background checks on potential firearm purchasers. But advocacy groups say many sellers are currently exempt from having to register, increasing the chance of sales to customers prohibited by law from purchasing a gun.
Obama’s plans immediately set off a political debate on the presidential campaign trail, which is intensifying less than a month before the first primary contests to choose each party’s nominee.
Democrat Hillary Clinton, who has already proposed an executive action to close the gun show loophole, cheered Obama’s plans.
“I am absolutely convinced we can have gun safety measures consistent with the Constitution,” she said. “I will take on that fight.”
WATCH: Trump takes on Obama’s gun control measures
Republicans candidates rejected the proposals, including those who have back some gun control measures in the past.
“This president is a petulant child,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday on “Fox News Sunday.” “The fact is if he wants to make changes to these laws, go to Congress and convince the Congress that they’re necessary. But this is going to be another illegal executive action which I’m sure will be rejected by the courts.”
“I don’t like changing anything,” Donald Trump said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Right now, they have plenty of rules and regulations.”
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