Obama Gun Control Proposals Unveiled: What's Your Take?

President Obama on Wednesday unveiled what is being called the most ambitious gun control agenda in decades, initiating 23 separate executive actions aimed at curbing what he called “the epidemic of gun violence in this country,” according to The Washington Post.

According to the White House fact sheet, Obama’s plan includes:

• Reinstating and strengthening the assault weapons ban.
• Restoring a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines.
• Getting rid of armor-piercing bullets.
• Ending a freeze on research into gun violence.
• Providing additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime.
• Calling on Congress to pass a $4 billion proposal to help communities keep 15,000 police officers on the streets, as well as new gun trafficking legislation that would “impose serious penalties on those who help get guns into the hands of criminals."
• Making schools safer by giving communities the opportunity to hire up to 1,000 school resource officers and school counselors.

In Michigan, Sen. Carl Levin quickly released the following statement:

"I strongly support the efforts President Obama outlined today to curb the gun violence that plagues our nation. I have long supported legislation to restore the ban on assault weapons. I also have supported closing the gun show loophole to strengthen the background checks that keep weapons out of the hands of criminals, terrorists, domestic abusers, and other dangerous individuals. I support our police agencies, who have implored us to make these changes.

“The steps the president outlined today are important in protecting Americans, while respecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. The president is right. It’s time for us to act, and Congress should do so.”

Dearborn Rep. John Dingell also issued a statement on the announcement:

“I appreciate President Obama’s thoughtful effort in having Vice President Biden bring all parties to the table as we begin an important national conversation that I feel is both worthy of our country and worthy of our people. I look forward to continuing this discussion with the people of Southeast Michigan as we work to find the best way to protect our people, and also protect the very freedoms and ideals central to this Nation’s founding, including the Second Amendment. I intend to work towards accomplishing both.

“To solve the problem of incidents of gun violence and help end the tragedies we’ve seen far too often, it will take a thorough effort in working together, on both sides of the aisle and on all sides of belief and ideology. I will look over the President’s proposals carefully and with the same thoughtful regard with which I feel this conversation, and the American people, deserve.”