Obama tightens gun rules to combat Mexican cartels

President Barack Obama drew fire from gun owners Monday over moves to tighten rules on purchases of powerful assault rifles which they say have been introduced by stealth.

The tougher rule on bulk purchasing certain types of deadly weapons come in the wake of recent incidents including the January 8 shooting of Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords near Tuscon, according to The Daily Beast.

It is part of efforts to control gunrunning along the Mexican border and "straw buying", where people buy multiple guns supposedly for themselves but instead pass them on to others.

The New York Times reported that the administration on Monday approved a new regulation requiring firearms dealers along the Mexican border to report multiple purchases of certain semiautomatic rifles such as AK-47s.

Gun dealers in border states will have to notify the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) if a customer buys more than one semiautomatic rifle that takes detachable magazines and ammunition greater than .22 caliber within a five-day period.

The new rule, which effectively expands a similar nationwide regulation on bulk purchasing handguns, is meant to restrict Mexican cartels' ability to source weapons from the United States.

The Daily Beast reported that starting as early as next week, Obama would announce other changes designed to tighten existing regulations and penalties, without taking on the gun lobby in Congress.

These measures included a simplified national electronic system for background checks on handgun buyers and tougher sentencing guidelines for straw buyers.

In addition to the Giffords shooting, the moves come after the ATF let straw buyers pass more than 1,700 semiautomatic weapons to Mexican drug gangs as part of a bungled investigation into the trade.

Many of the weapons disappeared from the ATF's radar, including two which were later found at the scene of a shooting in Arizona where a border patrol agent was killed, the New York Times said.

The National Rifle Association said it was considering suing the government over the new regulations, arguing they required an act of Congress.

“We view it as a blatant attempt by the Obama administration to pursue their gun-control agenda through backdoor rule making, and the N.R.A. will fight them every step of the way,” said Wayne LaPierre, the association's executive vice president.

But Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the tighter straw-buying regulation would help authorities “detect and disrupt the illegal weapons trafficking networks responsible for diverting firearms from lawful commerce to criminals.”

“The international expansion and increased violence of transnational criminal networks pose a significant threat to the United States,” he said in a statement.

Weapons specified under the new regulation “are highly sought after by dangerous drug-trafficking organizations and frequently recovered at violent crime scenes near the southwest border.”