White House Plans to Release New Gun Safety Measures 'in the Near Future

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) -- Six months after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot, the White House is preparing to propose some new steps on gun safety, though they're likely to fall short of the bold measures activists would like to see.

Spokesman Jay Carney said that the new steps would be made public "in the near future." He didn't offer details, but people involved in talks at the Justice Department to craft the new measures said they expected to see something in the next several weeks. Whatever is proposed is not expected to involve legislation or take on major issues, like banning assault weapons, but could include executive action to strengthen the background check system or other steps.

"The president directed the attorney general to form working groups with key stakeholders to identify common-sense measures that would improve American safety and security while fully respecting Second Amendment rights," Carney said Thursday. "That process is well under way at the Department of Justice, with stakeholders on all sides working through these complex issues, and we expect to have some more specific announcements in the near future."

Anti-gun groups have been disappointed to see no action so far from President Barack Obama, who supported tough gun control measures earlier in his career but fell largely silent upon becoming president. Some activists were using the opportunity of the six-month anniversary of the Giffords shooting on Friday to speak up.

The shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., killed six people and wounded more than a dozen others, including Giffords. Two months later, Obama wrote an opinion piece in Giffords' local paper, the Arizona Daily Star, calling for "sound and effective steps" to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, including strengthening background checks. He wrote:

Most gun-control advocates know that most gun owners are responsible citizens. Most gun owners know that the word "commonsense" isn't a code word for "confiscation." And none of us should be willing to remain passive in the face of violence or resigned to watching helplessly as another rampage unfolds on television.

So far the president has done nothing and administration officials have signaled that no major steps should be expected, given the climate in Congress against gun legislation of any kind.

But, the president faces a tough battle when dealing with "gun control." If he moves too far to the left, he risks launching an intense Second Amendment debate. However, if he simply ignores his former proclamations he faces alienating gun rights advocates. FOX News has more:

What remains unclear is just how far out on a limb the president is willing to go on gun control. If he goes too far, the Second Amendment debate could reach great heights as the president battles for his re-election. If he doesn't go far enough, some in his base may view him as weak on gun laws.

Interestingly, CNS News reports that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is taking a hardline against the Obama administration's enforcement of gun laws. In the wake of the "Project Gunrunner" scandal, Issa has been a tough Obama administration critic. On Thursday, he said the following on FOX News:

"Under President George W. Bush, U.S. attorneys were even fired for not enforcing guns laws strictly enough."

He went on to say that under the Obama administration:

"there seems to be a 'don't bother to enforce at all' policy, so that disturbs us -- that there's less gun enforcement about illegal gun transactions under an administration that theoretically is more for gun control, and George W. Bush went out of his way to try to help the Mexicans by having a zero tolerance to illegal guns sales that could end up in Mexico."

Watch Issa discuss these issues, among others, below:

The uncertainty regarding what the newfound steps will bring isn't stopping activists from pushing Obama. The group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, headed by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, sent Obama a letter calling him to act. The Blaze recently reported on the group's push for stricter firearm regulations.

"To prevent the next Tucson, we need a comprehensive background check system, which is what the president called for in April," said the director of the mayors' group, Mark Glaze. "That said, there are many steps the president can take on his own authority, without new laws, that could make a very real difference." NPR highlights one of these proposed steps:

For example, military and federal agencies are required to report people with mental health and drug problems to the criminal background check system, but they often don't. That's something gun control advocates say the president could fix.

The mayors' group's suggestions included enforcing reporting laws that could have stopped the Tucson shooter from getting a weapon.