The following is from a USA Today article written today by Raju  Chebium, Gannett Washington Bureau.

"Marc LeForestier, a deputy California attorney general, touted the state's  gun laws as a potential national model.

"Like California, Congress should require gun buyers to undergo criminal  background checks and use those records to build a firearms registry, he said.

"But in response to [a] question, LeForestier acknowledged that 600,000  firearms are still sold illegally every year in California even though the state  reputedly has the nation's toughest gun laws." (emphasis added)

So, how many guns would fall through the cracks if the United States implemented a strict California Plan?

Kind of makes you wonder.

- Dr. Gatling.

Here is a list provided by the White House of the 23 executive actions  President Obama plans to take to reduce gun violence. He does not require Congressional approval to implement these changes, which will be in effect for the length of his term of office.

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make  relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health  Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from  making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background  check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited  from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the  cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a  full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing  guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product  Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to  trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and  make it widely available to law enforcement
 
11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with  proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control  to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and  most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private  sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking  their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law  prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement  authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and  institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental  health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity  requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on  mental health.

 Before school shooters made headlines, it was mad bombers who killed our  children.

 The deadliest mass murder in a school in U.S. history took place in May 1927  in Bath Township, Michigan. 

Wikipedia’s entry on the tragedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_Disaster) says  Andrew Kehoe “killed 38 elementary school children and six adults, and injured  at least 58 other people. Kehoe first killed his wife, fire-bombed his farm and  set off a major explosion in the Bath Consolidated School, before committing  suicide by detonating a final explosion in his truck.”

 Kehoe is said to have used a timed detonator to ignite hundreds of pounds of dynamite and  incendiary pyrotol.

 In September 1959, my wife and her brother survived a bombing at Poe Elementary School in Houston, Texas. 

Six people, including the perpetrator, were killed, according to the  Wikipedia listing,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe_Elementary_School_bombing  .

 The debate continues about limiting firearm magazine size or outlawing  semi-automatic rifles (guns that require a separate pull of the trigger to fire  bullets one-by-one) that resemble military rifles. 

True assault rifles, capable of fully-automatic fire, have been strictly  regulated since 1934.

But I have to wonder what might happen if new gun control initiatives make it  more expedient for deranged killers to resort to real weapons of mass  destruction.

 - Dr. Gatling

Leaders of Rhode  Island’s capital city have passed a resolution calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and
pistols.
 
The Providence City Council is asking the state General Assembly to pass legislation allowing cities and towns to regulate the sale of firearms, thus allowing the city to implement a ban. 

Rhode Island's General Assembly previously rejected a motion to allow local control over gun sales, and the Legislature does not meet again until 2014.

Note that the Providence resolution is just that. It is not an ordinance and  has no enforcement power. It is a wish-list for the future ability to institute  a ban.

The proposal was sponsored by Council Majority Leader Seth Yurdin.

“Things like revolvers, single-shot rifles and shotguns are not affected by the ban,” Yurdin said. “Those are suitable for home defense or  hunting." 

It’s not clear if Yurdin’s plan would confiscate weapons-- or just outlaw the transfer or sale of semi-autos. But it already has sparked sales of  both firearms and ammunition chambered by semi-automatic rifles and pistols.

Now, you may say that such an idea would never win favor in your town. 
  
But consider this: The same day (Jan. 3) that the Providence City Council passed its resolution against semi-automatic firearms, it also became illegal to sell flavored cigars and cigarettes in the city. 
 
Providence officials passed the ordinance after deciding that tobacco companies often market fruit-, chocolate- or candy-flavored tobacco products to young smokers.

So if Providence can pass a chocolate-flavored cigarette ban, I wouldn’t bet against something as silly as a blanket ban of semi-automatic firearms.

 - Dr. Gatling

As folks struggle to find ways for blaming guns for violence, Reuters reports  a resurgence of interest in so-called "smart guns" that will fire only for  authorized users.

The idea has been around for years, first using magnetic rings and then RFID  chips to unlock the trigger and make it go bang. Other research has focused on  biometetrics such as fingerprints and handprints.

Trouble is, the concept behind personal firearms is that it will render  stolen guns useless. If the key is embedded in a ring or bracelet, the thief  could claim both the gun and key by disabling the gun owner. 

Robert McNamara, who patented the TriggerSmart RFID lock, claimed his  invention might have prevented the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary  School. However, the gunman, who stole a rifle and pistols from his mother,
killing her in the process, would have known the guns were locked -- and could  have made sure to take the keys after doing away with his mother.

Another issue with smart guns is reliability. Law officers and gun owners fear that one  failure to unlock could be a fatal mechanical failure. 

Finally, gunmakers are reluctant to embrace what could be an expensive  technical upgrade for a firearm that could easily be placed in a safe, locked  drawer, or secured with a conventional trigger lock.

 - Dr. Gatling