Republicans Threaten To Impeach Obama Over Executive Order On Guns

Jan. 15, 2013 - Prominent Republicans are saying that they would move to impeach Barack Obama if he uses executive orders to limit access to firearms. The White House will announce its plan of action on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 11:45 ET. Obama will reveal "concrete proposals" to limit our Second Amendment rights, including a ban on "assault weapons" and ways to "strengthen" background checks for gun buyers.

The White House has 19 executive actions that it says are ready for Obama to implement. Such action by Obama would be unilateral. That is, it would be the Executive branch of federal government bypassing the Legislative branch (Congress) to unilaterally make law.

"The president is also expected to outline 19 executive actions that he can unilaterally take, according to Capitol Hill Democrats briefed on his plan," reports The Hill. "Those executive actions are likely to include more aggressive enforcement of existing gun laws, increasing federal research on gun violence and stronger prosecutions of those who lie on gun background checks.‬"

What we have here, folks, is a constitutional crisis in the making. Executive orders are generally considered to be unconstitutional. The legislators (members of Congress) are elected to make laws, not the President.

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) threatened to file articles of impeachment if President Obama uses an executive order to try to reduce gun violence, reports Talking Points Memo. “The White House’s recent announcement they will use executive orders and executive actions to infringe on our constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms is an unconstitutional and unconscionable attack on the very founding principles of this republic,” Stockman said in a statement. “I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment."

"The President’s actions are not just an attack on the Constitution and a violation of his sworn oath of office - they are a direct attack on Americans that place all of us in danger,” Stockman said in the statement. “If the President is allowed to suspend constitutional rights on his own personal whims, our free republic has effectively ceased to exist."

Fox News reports today that Ed Meese, former U.S. Attorney General under Pres. Reagan, says impeachment for such an offense is not unrealistic.

"A President who abuses his executive order authority undermines the constitutional separation of powers and may even violate it," notes The Heritage Foundation. "History will show that President Clinton abused his authority in a variety of ways and that his disrespect for the rule of law was unprecedented. Given this pattern, no one should be surprised that President Clinton sometimes abused his executive order authority as well. But it would be a mistake to try to restrict a President's lawful and proper executive order authority because of one abusive President."