PRESIDENT OBAMA'S PROPOSALS IN RESPONDING TO MASS SHOOTINGS GUN VIOLENCE.............

Just nineteen hours after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, signed into law a new bill increasing regulation over guns and banning empire assault weapons, within an hour of it's passage by the Empire State's State Assembly by a bipartisan vote of 104-43; after having won a 43-18; vote in the State Senate, one week after it's proposal in the Cuomo's 'State of the State' Address last week, and on the second day of the 2013 State Legislature session last night;  President Barack Obama in the White House this afternoon unveiled his Administration's Federal Initiative for curbing gun violence in multifaceted proposals taken from the work of the Task Force he commissioned Vice President Joe Biden to head up last month, in the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut Mass Shooting.  The President's Proposals include twelve recommendations for legislative action by the United States Congress, and twenty three executive orders signed and issued by the President himself.  They range from Requiring Criminal Background checks for all Gun Sales, including those  that are presently exempt by Private Sellers;  Reinstating and Strengthening the Assault Weapons Ban, previously in place between 1994 - 2004;  Limiting Ammunition Magazines to 10 rounds each; as well as, a Presidential Memorandum Requiring Federal Agencies to provide Relevant Data to the Federal Background Check System;  Improving Incentives for State Governments to share Pertinent Information with the Federal Background Check system;  Directing the Attorney General of the United States to Review the Catergories of Persons who are Prohibited from possessing Guns, to Assure Dangerous Individuals are going undetected; and furthering the funding and development of Mental Health Assessments of gun buyers; are among the key proposals and actions President Obama took today, that are among the comprehensive package he issued.  The White House roll-out announcement came in the presence of family members of Newtown, Connecticut mass shooting victims on December 14th, and a group of children among those who young people who have written to President Obama about the tragedy in the past month.  Although the most recent polling released in recent days indicates increasing public support for new measures to regulate and respond to Gun Violence and greater Gun Safety; in the Washington Post - ABC News Poll this week, by margins of between 58%-88% approval of some of these particular measures, the White House has an uphill fight before it in getting the one dozen legislative proposals passed by the Congress, in the face of widespread Republican and conservative Democratic opposition and / or ambivalence; and the vehement opposition of the National Rifle Association, among other special interest groups.  I will continue following and blogging on these matters as developments take place.............Fr.  Troy