Gun Violence Victim, Firearms Dealer Share Similar Reactions To Obama's Executive Actions
GLEN MILLS, Pa. (CBS) — President Obama's executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence today have sparked a lot of reaction from those both for and against.
Reactions to the plan has been swift from those on both sides of the debate.
Eyewitness News reporter Greg Argos spoke with the grandparent of a child killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut, as well as a licensed firearms dealer here in the state of Pennsylvania.
Both had very similar reactions to the President's executive actions on gun control.
Benjamin Wheeler is one of the children killed during the Sandy Hook Massacre and not a day goes by his grandfather does not think of the first-grader.
"I talk to him every single day. Every day," said Carmen Lobis, Benjamin's grandfather.
Today the President shared that emotion as he called for a sense of urgency in fighting gun violence.
"Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad," Obama said. "And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day."
The president signed executive actions that would mandate background checks for anyone purchasing a firearm, including at gun shows and online.
"Interesting, but I don't view this as a big change. There's already laws out that says if you sell guns, you need to be registered and you need to do background checks. The only thing I saw today was that we are including all gun owners. To me it is not a big deal," Lobis told Eyewitness News.
The key, Carmen Lobis says, is to enforce laws already on the books.
Licensed gun dealer Jim Benoit agrees.
"The laws already exist. I want to be careful here, but to me it is just rhetoric. The hard core gun activists will say that you don't want to give them an inch because they will take a mile possibly," Benoit said. "And that may be the truth. But honestly, it is really not big of a deal. The gun laws exist. They are in place. Let's enforce them."
If you are looking to purchase a gun in the state of Pennsylvania, you do have to go through a federal background check and that check is conducted by the state police.
