There won’t be any new gun control laws coming from the legislature any time in the near future. Why not? Because the President wants them. The Republicans have done a bang-up job of playing the obstructionist card the last few years, and I’ve little doubt they’ll continue to do their best to deny him anything they can.
So, will he try to pull something “under the radar?” One of the concerns I frequently hear is that he’ll resort to passing legislation through executive orders.
That’s not how it works.
We don’t have an exact definition of what an executive order is, nor do we know the full limits. Authority for them is attributed to Article II, Section 5, which states the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” To this end, executive orders are generally understood to grant the President the authority to enforce or facilitate a certain law. Continued...