Following President Obama's speech in which he gave executive orders regarding gun control Tuesday, Idaho's Congressional delegates were quick to respond.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R) released a statement in which he said the executive orders would make it harder for responsible Idahoans to purchase guns.
“The president’s executive order to implement more gun control is just another brazen example of this administration’s continued overreach, a repeated pattern of behavior by this administration," he said. "The president continues the pursuit of his broad agenda of command and control over many aspects of American’s private lives."
Sen. Jim Risch (R) also condemned the orders, saying the President violated the constitutional separation of powers.
“That legislative function [of enacting laws] belongs to the first branch of government, not the second," he stated. "Those like the president, who want stricter gun laws, must do so by electing a pro-gun control Congress and not try unconstitutional lawmaking by the executive branch."
Idaho's Representatives in the House didn't like Obama's speech, either.
Rep. Raul Labrador (R) said the President has acted unilaterally on immigration, environmental, and other issues in the past.
"The President is putting election-year politics ahead of the Bill of Rights. I will continue to support the Second Amendment and fight the abuse of executive authority by this or any other president,” he said.
The executive actions, which call for more ATF and FBI agents and expanded background checks, among other things, didn't come as a surprise to Rep. Mike Simpson (R). In a statement on his website, he said those directives are things that should be handled by Congress. He also doesn't think they'll address the gun violence problem.
"We should focus on improving the care of the mentally ill and enforcing the laws we have in place to ensure that they are kept out of the hands of violent criminals,” he said.
