President Obama is kicking off the New Year with a focus on guns. He met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey Monday to discuss new strategies in light of recent mass shootings.
Obama has repeatedly called for Congress to take action on guns, but now is planning to announce an executive order to expand background checks on gun sales.
"My New Year's resolution is to move forward on our unfinished business as much as I can. That's especially true for one piece of unfinished business, our epidemic of gun violence," President Obama said in his weekly address.
Obama's recent push aimed at requiring background checks on gun sales and targeting a so called 'gun show loophole' would make restrictions tougher for private sellers at gun shows by forcing them to be licensed.
But not everyone is on board.
"It's the right to bear arms. It's been around for years. Why change it?" said Jesse Morgan, owner of Tactical Weapons in Fort Myers.
Federal Firearm Licensed dealers like Tactical Weapons, are required to run background checks before selling any gun, including at gun shows.
But private citizens often don't get background checks done at gun shows, according to Morgan.
Following his meeting Monday, the White House stated that they will hire 230 examiners to speed up the process of background checks.
"It's not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal. It will potentially save lives in this country and spare families the pain," Obama said Monday.
