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 The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives now
will require that people who sell guns at stores, at gun shows or
over the Internet be licensed and conduct checks, officials said.
The ATF was finalizing a rule requiring background checks for buyers
of dangerous weapons from a trust, corporation or other legal entity
as well.
Obama, speaking to reporters before the measures were made public,
said they were consistent with the U.S. Constitution's Second
Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms.
"These are not only recommendations that are well within my legal
authority and the executive branch, but they’re also ones that the
overwhelming majority of the American people, including gun owners,
support," Obama said during a meeting with Attorney General Loretta
Lynch and other advisers.
Obama is igniting a political firestorm by bypassing Congress with
the measures, which could spark legal challenges. Republicans say
Obama is misusing his powers.
 Shares in gun makers Smith & Wesson Holding Corp and Sturm Ruger &
Co Inc rose against a falling stock market on Monday in anticipation
of increased gun sales, as has happened before when the White House
mulled weapon sales reform.
Stymied by Congress' inaction on gun control, the president asked
his advisers in recent months to examine new ways he could use his
executive authority to tighten gun rules unilaterally after multiple
mass shootings generated outrage nationwide.
The White House had drafted a proposal on licenses previously but
was concerned it could be challenged in court and hard to enforce.
Guns are a potent issue in U.S. politics.
The National Rifle Association, the top U.S. gun rights group, is
feared and respected in Washington for its ability to mobilize gun
owners. Congress has not approved major gun-control legislation
since the 1990s.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the administration did not have
an estimate of the number of people who would be affected by the
changes.
She did not set out a numerical threshold for dealers, telling
reporters on a conference call that people selling one or two guns
at a flea market could considered be dealers. But she said hobbyists
and collectors would still be exempt from registration requirements.
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Obama said the measures would not prevent every mass shooting or
violent crime, but they did have the potential to save lives. The
president is scheduled to give remarks about gun control at 11:40
a.m. EST (1640 GMT) on Tuesday.
'EXECUTIVE OVERREACH,' RYAN SAYS
The president's use of executive action launches his final year with
a move that Republicans say exemplifies misuse of his powers.
Congress, which is controlled by Republicans, rejected Obama's
proposals for legislation to tighten gun rules in 2013.
"The president is at minimum subverting the legislative branch, and
potentially overturning its will," Republican Speaker of the House
of Representatives Paul Ryan said in a statement before the White
House announcement.
Republicans have called for more focus on mental health care rather
than measures to restrict gun ownership. The White House said it
would ask Congress for $500 million in its 2017 budget to boost
access to mental health care.
U.S. states have taken their own approaches to addressing gun
violence. Texas legalized openly carrying handguns, while New York
and Connecticut have banned high-capacity magazines.
In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment of
the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of individual Americans to
keep and bear arms. But the court also recognized that laws imposing
conditions on commercial guns sale can be consistent with the Second
Amendment.
(Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe, Julia Edwards and Robert
Iafolla; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Cynthia Osterman)
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