State’s Congressional Delegation Weighs in on Obama’s Action on Gun Control

CLARKSBURG — President Obama’s decision to tighten gun-control laws through executive order is another example of government overreach that won’t prevent gun tragedies, according to West Virginia’s congressional delegation.

Obama’s move to require more gun dealers to be licensed and more buyers to undergo background checks will only impact law-abiding citizens, the lawmakers said.

“Like most Americans, I want to prevent future incidents of violence and keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said. “Unfortunately, the president has decided to once again circumvent Congress and govern by executive overreach."

All the president’s action has done is to further divide both sides of the gun-control debate and infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens, Capito said.

“Instead of acting unilaterally, the president should work with Congress to make treatment for mental illness, an unfortunate common denominator in many recent tragedies, more available and accessible, and support better enforcement of current gun laws and standards,” she added.

The state’s other senator, Democrat Joe Manchin, said he also would have preferred that Obama work with — and not around — Congress.

“Instead of taking unilateral executive action, the president should work with Congress and the American people, just as I’ve always done, to pass the proposals he announced,” Manchin said.

“Like all law-abiding Americans and gun owners, I want to prevent future incidents of gun violence and keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, but legislation and consensus is the correct approach,” he added.

Manchin recounted working with senators from across the aisle on a common-sense background check bill.

That measure would have “protected the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners, while also ensuring criminals and those adjudicated mentally insane were unable to purchase guns,” Manchin said.

The bill — which Manchin co-sponsored with Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. — fell six votes shy of the required 60 to pass the Senate.

U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., called Obama’s action to restrict law-abiding citizens’ ability to buy firearms “a massive overreach” akin to his administration’s war on coal.

“Whether its guns, immigration or coal, time and again President Obama has gone around Congress when it suits him and taken unilateral action based on questionable constitutionality,” McKinley said.

The best way to prevent incidents such as the recent shootings in San Bernardino, California, is to address the root cause, be it terrorism or mental health, McKinley said.

Obama’s proposals released Tuesday would not have prevented those shootings, McKinley said.

“Rather than using tragedies to divide us and provide cover for executive overreach, the president should focus on making us more secure and giving Americans peace of mind,” the 1st District congressman said.

Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., said the Second Amendment right to bear arms is what keeps Americans safe in their homes, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces.

“President Obama’s most recent executive order is his latest of many proposals aimed at stripping away the rights of law-abiding American citizens,” Mooney said.

“I will fight with my colleagues in Congress to stop Obama’s continual executive overreach,” the 2nd District congressman added.

Gun shop owners were equally disappointed with the president’s move.

“Any executive action would not have prevented and will not prevent acts of domestic terrorism,” said Eric Satterfield, owner of Defenderarms in Clarksburg.