President Barack Obama will review in a matter of "weeks not months" final recommendations on how he can impose new gun restrictions without Congress and "will not be satisfied" without action before the end of his term, a top aide said.
Gun violence is "probably the issue that has touched him most personally over the course of his presidency," White House communications director Jen Psaki said at a meeting hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington. Obama will hold a news conference later Friday before traveling to San Bernardino, California, to meet with the families of victims of the Dec. 2 terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured 22.
The Justice Department is preparing recommendations on how best to craft restrictions that don’t require legislation from Congress and can survive court challenges by gun-rights advocates. The administration is considering a "range of steps that can be taken as it relates to the people who have access to guns" and "how people gain access to guns," Psaki said. She indicated she did not expect any action before Christmas.
"We fully recognize that there are limitations" to what can be done without Congress, she said. "I’m not going to take anything on or off the table" she said of options including closing the so-called gun show loophole for background checks and a proposed ban on gun purchases by people on the federal "no-fly" list.
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