President Barack Obama announced plans on Wednesday to increase research on gun violence prevention and create model emergency response plans for schools, places of worship and institutions of higher education as part of 23 executive orders targeted to reduce gun violence.
He signed the executive orders after a speech Wednesday morning.
“We don’t benefit from ignorance. We don’t benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic of violence,” Obama said in the press conference.
This move comes in the midst of a national discussion about gun control resulting from several gun-related incidents at different locations such as Sandy Hook Elementary School in Dec. 2012.
There is not a lot of current research on gun violence prevention because the federal government has not provided many grants or data, said Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor and gun control policy expert.
“(The order) will help academics gain more tools necessary for research,” Winkler said. “The president has been avoiding gun control for a long time and now he’s put it at the very top of his agenda.”
By May, the Obama administration will release emergency management plans that universities can model their own after, according to the plan he released today. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice will also help assess security, according to the plan.
UCLA already has emergency response plans, including one in case of an active shooter on campus, although the university will be reviewing the Obama administration’s version of the response plan once it is released, said UCPD spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein in an email statement.
Local Los Angeles Congressman Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles.,applauded the president’s proposal, calling it “a crucial step forward for science and children’s safety” in a press release on Wednesday.
Obama also released a set of sweeping gun control policy proposals Wednesday and called on lawmakers in Washington to take legislative action in response to recent gun-related incidents.
Some of the proposed policy changes include requiring background checks for all gun sales, and “banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” according to the President’s proposed plan.
None of the laws Obama proposed would affect California, which already requires background checks and has bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein D-Calif., who drafted the 1994 ban on assault weapons, said in a press release Wednesday that House of Representatives and Senate members will soon introduce new legislation in line with the president’s plan.
Compiled by Emily Suh and Sonali Kohli, Bruin senior staff.