Republicans vow to block Obama's gun control actions

US Republicans in Congress are scrambling for a way to reverse President Barack Obama’s executive actions on gun control.

Representative John Culberson, Republican of Texas and a key appropriator on Capitol Hill, threatened to block federal funding for the Department of Justice unless Obama’s measures are rolled back, according to The Hill.

However, the department will be funded through September under last year’s $1.1 trillion spending deal.

Some congressional Republicans are threatening court action to halt Obama’s gun control proposals, but the long legal route might see President Obama leave office in early 2017 before making any difference.

Several Republicans in the House of Representatives are expected to introduce legislation to stop Obama’s executive order in the coming days. Those efforts would also likely fail as Obama will certainly veto such bills.

“We will be using every tool in the toolkit to stop him,” one senior GOP lawmaker, who is close to leadership, told The Hill. “All options are on the table.”

Obama made a passionate plea Tuesday about the urgency to fight gun violence in America, blasting Congress for inaction in the face of too many tragic deaths by firearms.

"Congress still needs to act," Obama said in a speech from the White House, surrounded by victims of gun violence and their families.

"But we also can't wait," he added. "Until we have the Congress that's in line with the majority of Americans, there are actions within my legal authority that we can take to help reduce gun violence and save more lives."

Obama’s proposals call for expanding background checks on gun buyers, hiring more FBI agents to process background checks for gun sales, and requiring gun dealers to notify federal authorities if their guns are lost in transit.

The actions aim to close the so-called “gun show loophole,” which allows small dealers to sell firearms at gun shows or online without keeping official sales records.

Polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans, including 84 percent of gun owners, believe background checks are necessary for gun purchases made at gun shows or online.

However, Obama’s proposals would need Congress to provide an additional $500 million for mental health services and funding for 200 new federal agents in the next spending legislation.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and an avid deer hunter, released a statement, blasting the president’s gun agenda as “a form of intimidation that undermines liberty” and violates the Second Amendment. He also vowed the measures would “no doubt be challenged in the courts.”

Even before Obama made his speech, Republican presidential candidates vowed to undo his executive actions if they are elected to the White House.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearms are the cause of death for more than 33,000 people in the United States every year, a number that includes accidental discharge, murder and suicides.

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