COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN
If Obama uses a so-called Executive Order to change the
rules for gun ownership, the results will almost certainly not be what he
intends.
America has many levels of jurisdiction and a good many local
police and sheriffs and prosecutors, people who owe no political loyalty to the
President, likely will simply refuse to enforce "the law."
Executive Orders are a comparatively modern expansion of presidential
authority, and many Americans don't rebel against them only because they are generally
used for matters that do not so directly affect individuals.
America's Constitution clearly requires a new law to pass
both houses of Congress and to be signed by the President.
Using Executive Orders is akin to saying a new law needs
only the President's signature.
Few Americans would agree, and virtually no gun-owning
Americans would agree.
Attempts to enforce such an order with federal officials
will not have a happy outcome in many instances. There simply aren’t enough of
them to do anything but selective, spotty enforcement.
And since we are dealing with a presumed Constitutional
right - although it is arguable whether the Second Amendment gives such a right
- federal officials will be challenged in attempted enforcement.
It is hard for outsiders to understand the complexities and
rather chaotic nature of American government, but they are a real part of the
country's fabric.
An elected Prime Minister is close to being an elected
dictator under the parliamentary party system.
But an elected American President has remarkably little power
in domestic affairs. The Constitution was deliberately designed that way. He
does have substantial powers in military affairs by virtue of being designated as
Commander-in-Chief.
I fear an Executive Order along these lines could be a very
dangerous path for Obama to take. America already is a highly divided and angry
place.
I really do not understand why he keeps coming back to it.
Yes, of course, he is right about gun violence in America,
but not only does he not have legal authority to solve it by himself, he has no
moral authority, having established a murderous record as President.
He has killed, or is killing, people in half a dozen lands
without any pretence of legality.
He runs a junta-like system for "disappearing"
people with no charges, due process, or legal representation. And he has killed
thousands that way.
He also has troops in a number of countries on missions that
are not well defined or understood, and he winks at the filthy work of Turkey
and Saudi Arabia and Israel in Syria.
He never says a thing about Israel's unending suppression of
millions and its periodic mass killings, as in Gaza.
He is totally a creature of the CIA and Pentagon.
So why does he insist on this?
