President Obama, in what is likely to become one of his last major policy pushes before leaving the White House, pressed forward Friday new "smart gun" guidelines that he foresaw as shaping the future of firearms manufacturing technology.
Specifically, Obama said he'd like to see safety features incorporated into guns that would prevent accidental shootings, and called on manufacturers to add fingerprint-activation technology so that only the owner could fire.
"These common-sense steps are not going to prevent every tragedy," Obama wrote on Facebook. "But what if they prevented even one? As long as we've got the technology to prevent a criminal from stealing and using your smartphone, then we should be able to prevent the wrong person from pulling a trigger on a gun."
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He also wrote: "We've jumpstarted the development of smart gun technology. Today, many gun injuries and deaths are the result of legal guns that were stolen, misused, or discharged accidentally. As long as we've got the technology to prevent a criminal from stealing and using your smartphone, then we should be able to prevent the wrong person from pulling a trigger on a gun. So, my Administration released a plan today to expedite the development of smart gun technology, including by identifying the requirements that smart guns would have to meet in order for law enforcement to purchase and use them effectively."
He said the Justice Department would serve as a source of funding to broaden the smart gun program by providing money for state and local governments to purchase firearms equipped with the technology.
Gun-rights groups have already expressed opposition.
"President Obama's obsession with gun control knows no boundaries,” said Jennifer Baker, director of public affairs for the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action. “At a time when we are actively fighting terrorists at home and abroad, this administration would rather focus the military's efforts on the president’s gun control agenda."
Obama on Friday also announced his White House was putting together a proposed rule to tighten the background checks process on those with mental health issues.
"We're doing more to make sure that those who are already prohibited from obtaining a firearm can't get their hands on one. Today, we’re announcing a rule to ensure that federal mental-health records about individuals prohibited from buying a gun are reported to the background-check system," he wrote on Facebook.
The NRA-ILA opposed that move as well, calling it yet another presidential push to make "it harder for law-abiding citizens to exercise their individual right to self-defense."
And finally?
"The White House will convene state and local elected officials from all 50 states in May to discuss their efforts to prevent gun violence through legislative and executive actions," with the goal being to discern what works, and what doesn't, Obama wrote.