In the News

Members of Arkansas’ federal delegation Tuesday were quick to accuse President Barack Obama of disregard for the Constitution and a desire to circumvent congressional approvals with the package of gun control measures he seeks to implement through executive orders.

Among the measures are additional background checks and licensing for gun sellers online and at gun shows, additional spending on mental health treatment, and adding agents to the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in part to speed up background checks.

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, issued a statement saying he wished he was surprised “by the president’s latest announcement to skirt Congress in order to push through his gun control agenda. President Obama continues to reference false, misleading statistics to justify infringing upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”

Womack added that he believes there is merit to addressing mental health issues and discussing ways to make the country safer, but asserts “the proposals … from this president do not get to the root of the problem.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., was sharper in his comments: “The executive actions the president announced today trample the Constitution and undermine our inalienable right to bear arms. … Today, President Obama once again has chosen to bypass Congress and instead use executive fiat to force his own agenda on the American people. Rest assured, Congress won’t be ignored, and I am committed to protecting your Second Amendment rights.”

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., in an emailed statement called Obama’s proposals “window dressing and red tape” and “politicking and a last-ditch legacy-building effort.”

“If the president wanted to take a serious approach to reducing violent crime, he would work with Congress to pass real mental health reform and violent crime reduction initiatives, and he would instruct the Justice Department to do more to enforce the laws already on the books,” he said, noting that last year U.S. attorneys prosecuted 25 percent fewer gun cases than in the final year of the George W. Bush administration.

Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, echoed his colleagues’ comments about the Constitution, and added,

“Ironically, these out-of-touch orders will boost gun and ammunition sales as Americans react to an overreaching administration bent on restricting our freedoms.”

Like Womack, Rep. Rick-Crawford, R-Jonesboro, called on the president to focus “on the consistent causes of recent atrocities” and promised he would join “my colleagues in order to preserve the full rights of Arkansas’ gun owners and sellers despite misguided attempts to inhibit them.”

Although he saluted the president’s acknowledgement that “the lack of access to mental health care … (led to) many of the mass shootings,” Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, ultimately said the president’s “decision to subvert congressional authority in hopes of achieving a political victory against gun rights is unconstitutional. The American people and their Congress will not let this action stand.”

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a former U.S. attorney, former administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and former undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security, used his experience in his comments.

“On the issue of violent attacks from armed gunmen, my background has allowed me the opportunity to examine closely this issue from every side, and I disagree with the president’s approach” he stated. “Today, the president reinforced what we’ve come to expect: he would rather circumvent the American people, Congress and the Constitution in an effort to accomplish his agenda. The actions outlined in his executive order are largely the same new restrictions that Congress has already rejected.”