President Barack Obama pushed Congress on Friday to pass more expansive laws on gun control, while his Administration announced a proposal designed to put more stringent background checks on people looking to own firearms.
According to a White House statement obtained by Bloomberg, the Department of Justice, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, aims to widen the federal background check system to more specifically define who cannot buy guns in the United States based on mental health history.
"The administration is committed to making sure that anyone who may pose a danger to themselves or other does not have access to a gun," the statement read. "The federal background check system is the most effective way to assure that such individuals are not able to purchase a firearm from a licensed gun dealer."
DHHS plans to propose the regulation, which allows states to file details on mentally ill residents to the federal system without stopping each person looking for treatment from acquiring a firearm.
President Obama has been pushing tighter gun regulations - and more specifically, more thorough background checks for firearm owner hopefuls - since the Newton, Conn. shooting at Connecticut elementary school Sandy Hook in December 2012.
But after a gun control bill was stopped before it could pass into law in 2013, the President stated he'd start employing executive authority to toughen up on firearm-related legislation in the United States, Bloomberg reported.
