The White House announced two new gun restrictions on Thursday aimed at keeping the most dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands.
According to CBS News, the first executive order closed a loophole that had allowed felons and others with a background to obtain a weapon by registering it with a corporation or trust, thus allowing them to bypass the required background check.
The second keeps military-grade weapons out of the hands of individuals and off the streets by preventing private entities from re-importing those firearms. Vice President Joe Biden, speaking about the second order, said it would end the "practice of allowing countries to send back to the United States these military weapons to private entities. Period."
President Barack Obama adds these new gun control measures to a set of actions he has taken on the issue since the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The Wall Street Journal reports that Obama has improved the background check system, allowed the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to research the causes of gun violence and ways to prevent it, as well as put in a director at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Schwen, Wikimedia Commons