White House Finalizing Plan to Take Major Gun Control Action Using Executive Authority, Valerie Jarrett Says

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- President Barack Obama's advisers are finalizing a proposal that would expand background checks on gun sales without congressional approval.

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White House adviser Valerie Jarrett says the president has asked his team to complete a proposal and submit it for his review "in short order." She says the recommendations will include measures to expand background checks.

Jarrett spoke Wednesday night at a vigil for the victims of the Newtown shooting, according to a summary provided by the White House.

After the mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, Obama said his team was looking for ways to tighten gun laws without a vote in Congress. White House officials have said they're exploring closing the so-called "gun show loophole" that anti-gun advocates claim allows people to buy weapons at gun shows and online without a background check.

The move comes following the deadly terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 people dead. All of the guns used in the massacre were purchased legally. Opponents of new gun control regulations have argued that the proposals being pushed by Obama would not have prevented the tragedy or recent mass shootings.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA - DECEMBER 03: FBI agents and local law enforcement examine the crime scene where suspects of the Inland Regional Center were killed on December 3, 2015 in San Bernardino, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler concluded that Marco Rubio's claim that gun control wouldn't have prevented the mass shootings that have occurred in “last few months or years” is accurate.

"Rubio’s statement stands up to scrutiny — at least for the recent past, as he framed it. Notably, three of the mass shootings took place in California, which already has strong gun laws including a ban on certain weapons and high-capacity magazines," Kessler wrote.

The Obama administration has maintained that strengthening background checks, banning semi-automatic rifles deemed "assault rifles" and revoking the Second Amendment rights of people on the "no-fly" list could prevent dangerous people from getting guns.

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