--- title: Obama Looks to Expand Background Checks for Gun Sales description: The President asked his advisers for an executive order proposal. canonical: https://time.com/4144803/obama-background-checks-gun-sales/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-10T19:12:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:16:58.393Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Looks to Expand Background Checks for Gun Sales og:description: The President asked his advisers for an executive order proposal og:url: https://time.com/4144803/obama-background-checks-gun-sales/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt617646987da71ada/698874e0196cf42b7903969f/obama-gun-violence-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4928 og:image:height: 2772 og:image:alt: obama-gun-violence-white-house og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Looks to Expand Background Checks for Gun Sales twitter:description: The President asked his advisers for an executive order proposal twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt617646987da71ada/698874e0196cf42b7903969f/obama-gun-violence-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Looks to Expand Background Checks for Gun Sales > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a1e1e6c2-117b-49b6-8515-23a9b83cd978&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 10, 2015 7:12 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama speaks about US gun violence at the White House on Dec. 3, US President Barack Obama speaks about US gun violence at the White House on Dec. 3, Jim Watson—Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 10, 2015 7:12 PM UTC President Barack Obama’s advisers are [finalizing a proposal](http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/12/10/gun-sales-white-house-to-seek-expanded-background-checks) to expand background checks for gun sales, a plan that would not need Congressional approval. Obama requested the plan from his team following the [October mass shooting](http://time.com/4058961/oregon-shooting-president-obama-transcript-speech/) at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, the AP reports. White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said Wednesday the President asked for the proposal “in short order” and that the review will recommend expanding background checks. White House officials have been [investigating](http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-obama-gun-order-20151203-story.html) ways to close [the loophole that allows people to buy firearms](http://labs.time.com/story/gun-loophole/) outside of licensed dealers without undergoing background checks. Drafting a viable executive order to reinterpret the law and require more background checks has [been difficult](http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-obama-gun-order-20151203-story.html), the LA _Times_ reports. \[[_AP_](http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/12/10/gun-sales-white-house-to-seek-expanded-background-checks)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4144803/obama-background-checks-gun-sales/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4144803/obama-background-checks-gun-sales/"},"headline":"Obama Looks to Expand Background Checks for Gun Sales","datePublished":"2015-12-10T19:12:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:16:58.393Z","description":"The President asked his advisers for an executive order proposal","url":"https://time.com/4144803/obama-background-checks-gun-sales/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt617646987da71ada/698874e0196cf42b7903969f/obama-gun-violence-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt617646987da71ada/698874e0196cf42b7903969f/obama-gun-violence-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"obama-gun-violence-white-house","caption":"obama-gun-violence-white-house","creditText":"Jim Watson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4144803/obama-background-checks-gun-sales/","name":"Obama Looks to Expand Background Checks for Gun Sales"}}]}] ```