Obama's gun control actions open legal can of worms

President Obama’s executive action to expand gun sale background checks has opened up a legal can of worms, specifically the president’s bid to broaden the definition of who’s a dealer -- and therefore must get a license and conduct background checks. 
Under current federal law passed by Congress, only federally licensed dealers must conduct background checks on buyers. The law does not specify whether this applies to online sales and other areas -- so those selling or trading guns on websites or in informal settings such as flea markets often don’t register.
As the centerpiece of Obama's new gun push, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Monday night issued updated guidance that now deems anyone “in the business” of selling guns a dealer, regardless of where they sell.
All of which puts a constitutional spotlight on Obama’s actions, raising questions of interpretation that may have to be settled by the courts.
“Mr. Obama will now require that anyone who sells a gun, that is even an 'occasional' seller, will be required to perform a background check. By defining what an 'occasional seller' is, the president is essentially interpreting the law, a job reserved for the courts,” Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News' senior judicial analyst, said in a FoxNews.com opinion piece.
Until the courts weigh in, it falls on the sellers to figure out who technically is "in the business" of dealing.
It's a tough question -- and one with serious implications. As Obama noted during remarks at the White House Tuesday, failure to follow these rules can result in criminal prosecution.
While the new guidance says collectors and gun hobbyists are largely exempt, the exact definition of who must register and conduct background checks is vague. Some officials suggested that selling just one or two firearms could subject a seller to these rules.
Philip Dacey, president of the Pennsylvania Gun Collectors Association, told FoxNews.com that while he thinks the new orders will not have a huge impact on collectors, the devil is in the details.
"I think [to require a license for] one or two guns would be ridiculous, and how will you enforce it? If there’s no paperwork trail, how would you know when people are selling one or two guns to their neighbor?" Dacey said.
Dacey also noted that getting a federal license could take over three months and entail a complex process involving fingerprints, photographs and a visit by ATF agents.
The guidance says determining whether someone is “engaged in the business” of dealing requires looking at "the specific facts and circumstances of your activities.”
“As a general rule, you will need a license if you repetitively buy and sell firearms with the principal motive of making a profit. In contrast, if you only make occasional sales of firearms from your personal collection, you do not need to be licensed,” the guidance says.
Click here to read the guidance.
However, the document also notes the courts have deemed people dealers in some cases even if they only sell a couple guns.
“Note that while quantity and frequency of sales are relevant indicators, courts have upheld convictions for dealing without a license when as few as two firearms were sold, or when only one or two transactions took place, when other factors were also present,” the guidance says.
In a conference call with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and White House Press Secretary Josh  Earnest, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett sought to clarify, but risked making the confusion even greater.
“ATF will make clear that whether you are ‘engaged in the business’ depends on the facts and circumstances,” Jarrett said, according to The Washington Free Beacon. “On factors such as: whether you represent yourself as a dealer, such as making business cards or taking credit card statements. Whether you sell firearms shortly after they’re acquired or whether you buy or sell in the original packaging.”
On the question of the number of guns sold, Lynch said: “It can be as few as one or two depending upon the circumstances under which the person sells the gun."
Adding to the questions, the background check provision rests in the murky realm of agency "guidelines," which carry less weight than formally issued federal regulations and can easily be rescinded.
Republicans blasted the new guidance as a form of intimidation that would only target law-abiding citizens.
“[Obama] knows full well that the law already says that people who make their living selling firearms must be licensed, regardless of venue,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in a statement. “Still, rather than focus on criminals and terrorists, he goes after the most law-abiding of citizens. His words and actions amount to a form of intimidation that undermines liberty.”

Illinois Christian college seeks to fire professor for comments on Islam

Officials at a Chicago Christian college said Tuesday they are moving forward with firing a professor who was placed on leave after asserting that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
Provost Stanton Jones initiated the termination-for-cause proceeding after Larycia Hawkins refused to participate in clarifying the comments she made about the two religions, Wheaton College said in a statement on its website.
Wheaton College said it placed Hawkins on administrative leave in December because of theological statements "that seem inconsistent with Wheaton College's doctrinal convictions, which she voluntarily agreed to support and uphold when she entered into an employment agreement with the college."
Hawkins began to wear a hijab to show solidarity with Muslims, whom she felt were being persecuted in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting and the terror attacks in Paris. She told reporters last month her actions were “motivated by a desire to live out my faith.”
“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book,” she posted on Facebook. “And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
The school insists that is not why she was placed on leave.
The college said it has had frank conversations with Hawkins on doctrinal issues as it pursued the possibility of reconciliation with her but that "Hawkins has stated clearly her unwillingness to participate in such further clarifying conversations."
The Chicago Tribune reported that Hawkins had been asked to affirm the college’s statement of faith four times since she started teaching at Wheaton College nine years go. Hawkins and the school have butted heads over a paper relating the Bible and race relations in America, a photo taken of her inside a home at a party on the same day as Chicago’s Pride Parade and suggesting the college's curriculum should include sensitive vocabulary for talks concerning sexuality, according to the paper.
A spokeswoman for Hawkins, Shelly Ruzicka, said the professor had no immediate comment on the effort to fire her but she "maintains Christian support for the Muslim community amid the ongoing anti-Muslim climate."
Hawkins now faces a hearing with the college’s Faculty Personnel Committee, according to the Tribune.
The panel is made up of nine tenured faculty members. After hearing from both sides, the panel will make a recommendation on Hawkins' continued employement to Wheaton College President Philip Ryken.

Trump campaign says proposed UK ban over Muslim remarks 'a dangerous precedent'

Donald Trump’s campaign fired back Tuesday against a scheduled debate in the British parliament to discuss whether the Republican contender should be banned from entering the United Kingdom.
British lawmakers will debate later this month whether Trump’s call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States is a reason to prevent him from coming to Britain.
“Westminster would create a dangerous precedent and send a terrible message to the world that the United Kingdom opposes free speech,” George Sorial, executive vice president and counsel for the Trump Organization, told Fox News in a statement.
Several British officials blasted Trump’s proposal follwing the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino, Calif., with Prime Minister David Cameron calling the idea “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong" in a break from the convention that British officials keep their opinions about U.S. presidential candidates to themselves.
Since Trump's remarks, two petitions have been circulated regarding his potential travel to the U.K. The first, with more than 560,000 signatures, calls for Trump to be banned from entering Britain. A rival petition with nearly 40,000 signatures, calls on officials to refrain from imposing a ban.
The House of Commons Petitions Committee said Tuesday that both petitions would be debated Jan. 18. Chairwoman Helen Jones said the debate "will allow a range of views to be expressed," and did not mean the committee supported a ban.

The debate will not result in a binding vote.
In response to the petitions, the British government said in a statement that while they don’t normally comment on individual exclusion decisions, Home Secretary Teresa May could ban someone if she “considers their presence in the UK to be non-conducive to the public good”.
“[We] will continue to speak out against comments which have the potential to divide our communities, regardless of who makes them,” the statement continues.
Trump’s campaign has warned that restricting his travel would have ripple effects, saying a ban would "alienate the many millions of United States citizens who wholeheartedly support Mr. Trump and have made him the forerunner by far in the 2016 Presidential Election."
Trump has touted his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland on the campaign trail as an example of his business acument.
The real estate mogul visited the property this past July when it hosted the Women's British Open.
“I think that I'd be very close with Britain," Trump said at the time. "We would be, we would have, such a great relationship with this part of the world."
Trump has said he is looking to invest further in Turnberry and other locations in the U.K.
Yet Trump’s company has also warned that any official action taken against him “would force The Trump Organization to immediately end these and all future investments we are currently contemplating in the United Kingdom.”

bill clinton cigar cartoon

US under pressure to assure Mideast allies amid Iran-Saudi dispute

Former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia on tension with Iran

The deepening rift between Sunni nations and Iran is putting growing pressure on the Obama administration to reassure Middle East allies who feel "abandoned" over Washington's diplomatic outreach to Tehran.  
The split widened Monday as Bahrain and the UAE joined Saudi Arabia in either cutting off or downgrading ties with Tehran. The diplomatic crisis erupted after Saudi Arabia went forward with a mass execution which included the killing of a prominent Shia cleric, and Iranians retaliated by storming the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
Saudi Arabia's response, though, reflected not only its outrage at Iran but an undercurrent of frustration with the United States’ reluctance to hold Iran accountable for alleged aggressions. One Saudi official was quoted complaining that the U.S. "backs off" every time Tehran crosses a line.
Among other moves, a recent decision by the U.S. to delay sanctions against Tehran could be inflaming that frustration -- and in turn making it more difficult for Washington to help resolve the dispute.
For now, the administration is treading carefully and showing little interest in diving into the middle of the fight. State Department spokesman John Kirby said he doesn’t believe the U.S. should act as a “mediator” between the two sides.
But Robert Jordan, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2001-2003, told FoxNews.com the Saudis and their allies “feel abandoned by the United States” and urged the U.S. to get more involved.
“The backdrop of animosity and of proxy wars has been getting more dramatic,” Jordan said. “We need to make it clear that we’re not simply singing ‘Kumbayah’ with Iran and that we still see them as a revolutionary state.”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Monday pushed back strongly on accusations the U.S. was looking the other way with Iran. He added that sanctions are still on the table but also warned Saudi Arabia wasn’t getting a free pass from the U.S. on its mass executions.
“We’re urging all sides to show restraint, not further tensions,” he said at the daily briefing.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran and gave Iranian diplomats living in the country only hours to flee. The move highlighted a stunning escalation in the decades-old bad blood between the two nations.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made the announcement after Iranian leaders sharply criticized Saudi Arabia for executing outspoken Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, among a group of 47 executed. Protesters in Iran stormed the Saudi Embassy in response to the killings.
“The killings – the beheading -- was nothing more than a spark that ignited what had been simmering,” Professor Alon Ben-Meir, a senior fellow at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and senior fellow at the World Policy Institute, told FoxNews.com.
The fracture in ties comes at a time when the United States and other Western countries had hoped civility between the two Middle Eastern nations would ease tensions in Iraq, Bahrain and other political hotspots in the region.
But instead of staying out of the fight, three Sunni-led countries – Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates -- joined Saudi Arabia’s lead on Monday.
Bahrain accused Iran of spreading “devastation and destruction” around the world and provoking “unrest and strife in the region.”
Sudan -- which is not a U.S. ally and, like Iran, is considered a state sponsor of terrorism -- kicked out its Iranian ambassador, while the UAE downgraded its ties to Tehran by ordering a reduction in the number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the UAE.
For its part, U.S. officials have been working to ease the tensions.
The White House said Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday, while the Saudi Press Agency reported that Kerry had also spoken with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Salman. The Associated Press said that Kerry would likely make another round of calls to the foreign ministers of all the Sunni-led states in the region, including Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.
Several officials said one of Washington's most immediate concerns is the potential effect the spat could have on the fragile cooperation in Iraq between the Iraqi security forces, which answer to an Iran-friendly government, and Sunni and Shiite militias that are fighting Islamic State extremists. That cooperation has shown gains in recent weeks, notably with the Iraqi recapture of the provincial capital of Ramadi from the Islamic State group.
Officials were preparing for a high-level U.S. conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to stress the importance of continuing the Iraqi government's outreach to Sunni militias, the officials said.
Also of concern is the state of the Syrian peace effort, which is supposed to swing into high gear in late January with U.N.-sponsored negotiations between Saudi-backed opposition forces and the Iranian-supported government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In addition to Kerry, other senior U.S. diplomats were in close contact with Saudi and Arab officials over the weekend, according to U.S. officials.
But at least one U.S. official blamed the Saudi government for stoking tensions by executing al-Nimr, who was a central figure in Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012.
"This is a dangerous game (the Saudis) are playing," the official told The Washington Post. "There are larger repercussions than just the reaction to these executions."
That drew an angry response from a Saudi official, who also told the Post, "Tehran has thumbed its nose at the West again and again, continuing to sponsor terrorism and launch ballistic missiles and no one is doing anything about it."
"Every time the Iranians do something, the United States backs off," the official added, according to the Post. "The Saudis are actually doing something."
During his daily briefing, Earnest warned that the U.S. would not be pressured by any country into enforcing economic sanctions against Iran.
“We know those kinds of financial penalties have an impact and they are helpful in countering Iran’s ballistic missile program but ultimately we will impose those financial penalties, we’ll impose those sanctions at a place of our choosing, when our experts believe they will have the maximum impact and those decisions are not subject to negotiation by the Iranians or by anybody else for that matter,” Earnest said. “Those decisions are made based solely on the conclusion of our financial experts about ensuring those penalties have the maximum impact.”

Mark Penn: Obama said the 'stupidest thing ever said by a president'

Mark Penn, who owns a public relations firm handling communications for the Barack Obama Foundation, credited Obama with uttering the “stupidest thing ever said by a president in foreign policy.”
In a March 2012 email sent to Hillary Clinton’s private email address, Penn lambasted Obama for his statement to then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that he would “have more flexibility” on missile defense issues after the 2012 election.
“This could be about the stupidest thing ever said by a president in foreign policy,” wrote Penn. “To explicitly say that he is laying low on nuclear defense policies because of his election right now and tell your opponent that is to politicize all foreign policy, evidence weakness that can be exploited by others, and undermine the administration’s credibility. “
Penn recommended that Clinton should “consider resigning” if the administration’s foreign policy positions were truly being swayed by Obama’s campaign for reelection. He also cautioned that enemies “from al Qaeda on down” will use Obama’s words to their advantage.
Penn owns SKDKnickerbocker, which was paid $230,436 for marketing and communications work by the Barack Obama Foundation. Obama plans to use the foundation as the main vessel for his post-presidency political work.
Penn’s opinion that Obama said the “stupidest thing ever said by a president” is just the latest indication of how negatively Penn views Obama.
As a top campaign strategist for Clinton in 2008 Penn recommended a negative campaign strategy that focused on Obama’s “lack of American roots.”

Bill Clinton stumps for Hillary, as Trump keeps up attacks

Guess he quit smoking?

Bill Clinton hit the campaign trail for his wife's presidential bid on Monday, telling voters in New Hampshire that “nobody is better qualified” than Hillary Clinton -- as his presence stoked revived criticism from Republicans about his personal and professional past. 
Front-running Republican candidate Donald Trump has led the attacks, asking how Hillary Clinton can position herself as a champion for women while bringing her husband to campaign events despite his adulterous past.
“I hope Bill Clinton starts talking about women's issues so that voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how Hillary abused those women,” Trump tweeted Saturday.
He also recently suggested that Clinton was not an “innocent victim” in her husband’s extra-marital activities.
“She would go along with him,” Trump told Fox News.
The comments follow similar ones since Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, announced a few weeks ago that she was going to deploy her “not-so-secret weapon” Bill Clinton in January. But the Clinton campaign has hit back, accusing Trump of having a "penchant for sexism."
Hillary Clinton is in a far better position this primary season than she was the last time Bill Clinton stumped for her -- in the 2008 primary against Barack Obama. Clinton has 54 percent of the national primary vote and leads her closest challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, by 23 percentage points, according to a RealClearPolitics poll average.
However, she needs a boost in early-voting New Hampshire where Sanders trails by less than 5 points, with Election Day on Feb. 9.
On Monday, Clinton began his speech at Nashua (N.H.) Community College by calling himself a “happy grandfather,” then argued that his wife’s platform represents voters’ best chance at making America safer and restoring widespread economic prosperity.
“I think it’s the best plan to have the most rapid movement toward broadly shared prosperity,” he said.
Clinton closed his roughly 25-minute speech by saying he and his wife “fell in love 45 years ago” and that “everybody goes to the White House with the best intentions.”
He also made a stop Monday in Exeter, N.H., while Hillary Clinton was in Iowa, which votes first, on Feb. 1.
Hillary Clinton said upon announcing that her husband would join her on the trail:  “We’re going to cover as much ground in New Hampshire as we possibly can, see as many people, thank everyone who’s going to turn out and vote for me to try to get some more to join them.”
The former president has already been on the 2016 trail for his wife, appearing on stage with pop star Katy Perry in late October before a key fundraising dinner in Iowa. However, his appearances starting Monday are his first stump speeches.
Clinton until now has largely remained behind the scenes, raising money and offering campaign advice to the former New York senator and secretary of state.
Though polls show he is still one of the most popular political figures in American politics, his efforts during Hillary Clinton’s failed 2008 White House bid were occasionally criticized -- including his suggestion that race was a factor in eventual-winner Obama defeating his wife in the South Carolina primary.
“Does anybody remember when Bill Clinton, in 2008, worked long and hard for Hillary? She LOST! Now Bill is at it again. Just watch,” Trump tweeted this weekend.
The Republican National Committee also used Clinton's appearance Monday to question his paid speaking gigs while his wife was secretary of state. A spokesman said his presence only "reinforces the fact the Clintons are untrustworthy and have used public service to enrich themselves and reward their friends."
Sanders told ABC News on Sunday that he didn’t object to Clinton joining the campaign trail.
“We have enormous problems facing this country, and I think we got more things to worry about than Bill Clinton's sexual life,” he said. “Maybe Donald Trump might want to focus attention on climate change. … Maybe Donald Trump should understand that we should raise the minimum wage. … Maybe he should focus on those things.”
Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson recently suggested that the campaign will make an issue of Bill Clinton’s past behavior if his wife continues with the accusations of sexism toward Trump, while Democrats continue their broader attack on Republicans about their so-called “war on women.”
“Hillary Clinton has some nerve to talk about the war on women and the bigotry toward women when she has a serious problem in her husband,” she told CNN.

Obama executive action on guns to require background checks for more sales

President Obama’s series of executive actions on guns will require background checks for those purchased from dealers even if they're bought online or at gun shows, the White House announced late Monday.
The Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will also issue updated guidance that says the government can consider someone a gun dealer regardless of where the guns are sold.
The actions, which Obama will formally unveil Tuesday, mark a renewed bid by the president to enact gun control measures with or without Congress.
Republicans accused the president of going too far, and already have threatened to fight the new measures by withholding DOJ funding. The guidance, though, aims to achieve a long-time administration goal of narrowing the gun show loophole.
In an attempt to prevent gun purchases from falling through the cracks, the FBI will hire 230 more examiners to process background checks, the White House said.
The FBI has a computerized system that can process background checks for many in seconds, but in instances where the FBI needs more time, the government only has three days before prospective buyers can return and buy the gun without being cleared.
Earlier on Monday, Obama vowed to press ahead with new executive actions on gun control after meeting with top law enforcement officials, claiming he has the “legal authority” to act – and defying congressional critics who say he’s pursuing a “dangerous” overreach.
The president spoke after meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey and other top officials to review their proposals and finalize his plans.
Obama said their recommendations are “well within my legal authority” and would be supported by “the overwhelming majority of the American people including gun owners.”
“The recommendations that are being made by my team here are ones that are entirely consistent with the Second Amendment,” Obama said, claiming they could “potentially save lives.”
The revived push to tighten America’s gun laws via executive action, however, has resulted in a backlash on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
Republicans made clear they would fight the administration and accused the president of overstepping.
"While we don’t yet know the details of the plan, the president is at minimum subverting the legislative branch, and potentially overturning its will,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement. “This is a dangerous level of executive overreach, and the country will not stand for it.”
Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who chairs a key appropriations panel, warned Lynch on Monday that he would “use every tool at my disposal to immediately restrict” DOJ funding if the department proceeds with “new restrictions on our Constitutional rights.”
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump vowed to reverse any such actions if he’s elected.
"We're not changing the Second Amendment," Trump said Saturday at a campaign rally in Biloxi, Miss. "I will veto that. I will un-sign that so fast."
While Obama took heat from Republicans, supporters of stronger action on gun control applauded the president’s new push.
"We definitely think there are things he can do," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates for expanding background checks. Gross says his recent conversations with White House aides have left him hopeful.
"It's very clear that the White House is feeling emboldened," he said.
Obama announced the meeting with Lynch in his weekly address from his Hawaii holiday vacation. On Thursday, he'll take his argument to prime time, participating in a town hall discussion of gun violence on CNN. He's slated to make his case for changes in his State of the Union address on Jan. 12.
The high-profile rollout reflects a White House continuing to look for ways to wrap up unfinished business, despite an uncooperative Congress.
After all but ignoring the issue in his first term, Obama changed course after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012. Nevertheless, the president failed to push a package of gun measures through Congress, including one expanding background checks.
At the same time, Obama took nearly two dozen executive actions to tighten gun laws, but left a major expansion of background checks out of the mix.
But after the shooting at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon in October, Obama ordered his staff to redouble the effort to look for ways to work around Congress.
Under current law, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to seek background checks on potential firearm purchasers. But advocacy groups say many sellers are currently exempt from having to register, increasing the chance of sales to customers prohibited by law from purchasing a gun.