Obama’s Action on Guns: What It Means for Background Checks

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

President Obama on Tuesday will formally announce executive action on guns in an East Room ceremony.

Q: Will the president’s plan close the loophole that has allowed millions of guns to be purchased without criminal background checks at gun shows and in online bazaars?

A: No. Federal law already requires that anyone “engaged in the business” of selling guns must be licensed and must conduct background checks on every purchase. The problem is that many sellers at gun shows and on firearms websites claim to be hobbyists who are exempt from those requirements. People who purchase guns from those sellers are not subject to criminal background checks.

Mr. Obama’s executive action does not expand the existing law. Instead, his administration has now “clarified” that people who claim to be hobbyists may actually be “engaged in the business” of selling firearms if they operate an online gun store, pass out business cards or frequently sell guns in their original packaging. The president’s action also reiterates that there are criminal penalties for violating the law. Q: So, is the president ordering better enforcement of the existing laws to crack down on people who are selling without the proper licenses and background checks?

A: Yes, to the extent he can. He is asking Congress for funding to hire 200 new agents and investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, though that request may be denied by Republican lawmakers. Mr. Obama says the F.B.I. will increase the number of workers who process the background checks by 50 percent, or 230 people. He says that should reduce delays in a system that receives 63,000 background check requests each day. He is also announcing the eventual development of a more modern computer system that can process background checks 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The president is also seeking to close a loophole that has allowed people to avoid background checks when they buy and sell certain weapons — machine guns and sawed-off shotguns — by forming corporate entities and trusts to conduct the sales. A new regulation will clarify that those purchases must undergo background checks.

Q: Are there other provisions of the president’s plan that would help keep guns out of the hands of criminals or mentally ill people?

A: Yes. The Social Security Administration will begin looking at how to link mental health records in its system with the criminal background check data. The Department of Health and Human Services is clarifying that health privacy rules do not bar states from reporting mental health records to the background check system. And Mr. Obama is requesting $500 million from Congress to improve basic mental health care.

In addition, Mr. Obama will announce that the A.T.F. will spend $4 million to enhance a ballistics database that analysts use to link guns to violent crimes. He will order the Defense Department, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to sponsor research into gun safety technology. And at Mr. Obama’s direction, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch wrote a letter to state officials to encourage reporting of criminal information to the background check system.