Whether the Prez can issue an EO to implement the same rules as those sought in the legislation creating the: a) mag ban b) firearm ban c) universal checks. Can he do that with an EO?
The short answer is: not no, but hell no.
I don't mean to sound like a tool here, so excuse me if I do. I've been working and have not yet had my weekend toddy. I'm being quick so I can go do that. Basically, the federal government is a "limited government" specifically bc the founders/framers were worried about a strong central govt that would become authoritarian and do the same things King George did, yadda yadda. The broadest power the federal govt has is established by the Commerce Clause which gives
Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. Thanks to J. Edgar Hoover, the commerce clause was expanded by SCOTUS to permit the federal government to have some traditional
police power
. Technically, the federal government does not have what is called "general police power;" that is reserved for only the states via the 10th Am. If you look at the dates of all the big SCOTUS cases expanding the commerce power, they occurred around the time Hoover was the chief federal police officer. But some ppl may disagree with my point, here. Anyway, the federal government is limited. However, the power the federal govt does have is generally held by the Congress (the legislative branch), not the President (executive branch). The only powers of the president are those powers expressly stated in the Constitution, there are no implied powers granted to the President by the Constitution. If the Constitution does not say he can do X, then he cannot do X. The other source of executive power is power that has been delegated or authorized by the Congress. Think of the three branches like a game of rock, paper, scissors. In other words, the President can never do anything that is not authorized by either the Constitution or federal statute enacted by Congress. He can mobilize the military without Congressional approval bc the Constitution lets him do that. But he cannot declare ware, bc the Constitution says he cannot do that. He cannot levy taxes either, only Congress can, but he can certainly collect taxes (think: IRS, executive agency). Think of levying taxes as the same as creating a rule that says how much you have to pay. Congress can say how much you have to pay, but not the President. But the President can put you in jail when you don't pay what Congress says you have to pay.
Here is a list of all the EOs over time.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Sta...ral_executive_orders
Check out the text of some of these more recent ones. You will notice they have an authorization clause which states where the authority to issue the EO came from. Some just say the Constitution, while other names specific statutes. For example,
EO 13626
was (as the president correctly claimed at the time) authorized by the Constitution and section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) (33 U.S.C. 1321), section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2706), and 3 U.S.C. 301. This EO was basically a response to the oil spill in the Gulf. Well, the point is that the Congress had already delegated authority to issue that EO. It is the executive branch that
enforces the law. Authority to enforce the law is no where near the same as authority to enact law, even if an EO carries with it the "force of law." EOs are basically similar to regulations. For instance, Congress will enact a pollution statue, but give the EPA authority to promulgate rules to bring the purposes of that statute to fruition. And this makes sense bc sometimes it is the executive agency that has subject matter expertise in the area. Congress does not need to be diddling around with the minutia. Whether its an EO, a regulation, or something else, there must be an
enabling clause
in the statute that enables/authorizes the President or the executive agency (e.g., FDA, FCC, EPA, DOD, whatever) to issue the EO or promulgate the rule or to conduct whatever the "act" is. If the issuance of the EO by the president, or the promulgation of the rule by the exec agency, goes beyond the legislative authority granted in the enabling clause, then the executive order/act/rule is void. Now, this means bringing a case in a federal court and going thru that b*tch of a process, but in the end, if authority was clearly exceeded, the Court will fix the problem.
So what's that got to do with guns? Well, there is nothing granting the President authority to promulgate or order a ban on anything or to require universal checks.
If he had authority to do this on his own, Congress would not be diddling around with it right now. It would have already happened.
Further, the president was no power to arbitrarily ban legal property just by the stroke of a pen...why? Because the government (meaning the executive, legislative,
and judicial branch) cannot deprive some of life, liberty, or property without giving that person due process of law. Due process will be different in every situation, but the point is that the president cannot just up and say: you no longer have the liberty to sell your lawfully owned property unless you follow my rules. Now, Congress can do this universal-checks crap through its own legislative power, but the executive cannot do it bc nothing authorizes him to do it. I still stick to my original argument that
Heller prevents Congress from enacting the bans, def the weapons ban and maybe the mag ban. But I believe a universal check law is going to be constitutional...if it passes. But I see no way it passes the House, even if the Senate somehow manages to do it (which I also doubt).
Side note on due process, the government can kill you (deprive you of life) as long as it gives you due process. Usually, this means giving you a jury trial with judicial review and all that. But, if you start shooting at a police officer, the officer can kill you on the spot with no judicial review or sanctioning. This is called an extrajudicial killing. However, in order for the extrajudicial killing to be lawful, there must have been an "imminent threat of immediate" harm. And that threat of harm must have been for "serious bodily harm" or "life threatening." Obviously, this requirement is met when a bad guy is shooting at a cop. But if a bad guy is fist-fighting a cop, the cop can't just kill him. The cop is only authorized to return proportional force. And ppl argue about what is "proportional" every day. Also, think about the Civil War. The President killed what...300k american citizens with no trial. 650k total died, but idk how many from each side. Anyway, all those killed had taken up arms against the Nation, and therefore the President was authorized to order extrajudicial killings (i.e., to order his soldier to fight on the battlefield).
But ehhh....don't take my word for it. These are just my opinions. But I am not worried about anything at this point...just worried about when my dern .308 dies are gonna come and when the local dude is going to get Varget back in stock. I got bullets, cases, primers out the butt, but no powder or dies. Tho, I got 9mm covered. However, my 9mm handloads are horribly inaccurate. *shakes fist* ...I digress. Time to go out now.