BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WPMI) President Obama announced Wednesday that he's taking 23 executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence, including measures to encourage schools to hire police officers, increase research on gun violence, and improve efforts to prosecute gun crime.
Gun shop owner Roger Lowell watched intently as the President laid out his plan.
"We already call the FBI and we have the person fill out a form and they give me the permission either yes or no," said Lowell.
Universal background checks are at the top of the president's list are checks on all gun sales, including those at gun shows.
"I think it's important that we do anything within our power to keep guns out of the hands of anybody who is irresponsible. We need better background checks, more limited ways to buy guns," said Deborah Jessup of Daphne.
Reinstating the assault weapons ban and banning high capacity magazines will be up to Congress. It's a debate that will heat up in the days to come.
In the deep south where folks love their guns and the right to have them, there's mixed reaction.
As the president signed his orders, the calls were coming in to the gun shop.
"As soon as he was signing the paper one of my customers just called. They were like what if. Do you have this and this and this," said Lowell.
"If you've committed a violent crime, I don't care if child abuse or assault and battery, estranged husband or wife if you have a history of an assault record you should not be allowed to have a weapon," said Donald Gingrey of Daphne.
The call for more money for school resource officers and better ways to handle mental health initiatives, seems to be welcome. Local officials like the sheriff are on record saying people with mental issues should not have access to guns.
"This is one way we can ensure peace and safety is by taking that small percentage of the population who has been diagnosed and then found in a court of jurisdiction to have mental issues and keep weapons away from them," Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Mack Jr. said earlier this week.
By executive order, the president is taking steps to give communities the opportunity to hire up to 1,000 school resource officers and counselors. Obama is also requiring federal law enforcement to trace all recovered guns.
