West Virginia's congressional representatives criticized President Barack Obama's use of executive action to limit gun violence Tuesday, although some support similar ideas.
Obama announced his new proposals and actions at a White House speech in which he teared up while talking about the 20 elementary school children gunned down in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.
The actions he plans to take are far more modest than failed legislation proposed in the wake of the Newtown massacre, which would have expanded background checks.
Perhaps the most controversial action Obama announced attempts to clarify a law that defines which gun sellers must perform background checks.
Anyone "in the business" of selling guns must get a license to do so, and licensed dealers must perform background checks, according to federal law. However, many gun sellers online and at gun shows are unlicensed and, therefore, do not perform background checks.
Obama announced a clarification to reiterate that sellers do not need to have a brick-and-mortar store to be considered "in the business" of selling guns.
To enforce the law, Obama said, the FBI will hire 230 more examiners to process the additional background checks. The president also proposed funding for 200 new agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to help enforce existing gun laws.
Obama also asked Congress to approve an additional $500 million to increase access to mental-health care.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., criticized Obama in a prepared statement, but has long favored some of the specific proposals - better enforcement of existing law and focusing on mental health.
"He has furthered an already divisive debate and infringed on the rights of law-abiding citizens," Capito said of the president. "Instead of acting unilaterally, the president should work with Congress to make treatment for mental illness, an unfortunate common denominator in many recent tragedies, more available and accessible, and support better enforcement of current gun laws and standards."
Capito did not respond to follow-up questions about whether she supports the president's specific proposals.
Obama, in his speech, specifically praised Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who, with a Republican colleague, proposed a bill to increase background checks after the Newtown massacre.
"Both [are] gun owners, both [are] strong defenders of our Second Amendment rights, both with 'A' grades from the NRA," Obama said of Manchin and his co-sponsor, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
Manchin's bill would have gone further than the president's actions to require background checks on online gun sales and at gun shows.
However, Manchin, in a prepared statement, criticized Obama's actions.
"Instead of taking unilateral executive action, the President should work with Congress and the American people, just as I've always done, to pass the proposals he announced today," Manchin said. "I want to prevent future incidents of gun violence and keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, but legislation and consensus is the correct approach."
Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., also criticized Obama's "unilateral action," while saying he could support some of Obama's proposals.
"We are all saddened by acts of violence like the attack in San Bernardino, but the best way to prevent them is to address the root cause, whether it is terrorism or mental health," McKinley said in a prepared statement. "The proposals released today will restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans, but would not have stopped these episodes of violence."
Mike Hamilton, McKinley's chief of staff, said he would have to see details on Obama's specific mental-health proposal but that, generally, McKinley favors increased funding for mental-health care.
Obama also instructed federal agencies to conduct research into gun safety technology, to prevent accidental or unauthorized shootings, and improve the tracing of stolen guns.
West Virginia's representatives have generally refused to say if they think federal public health agencies should even be allowed to study gun violence.
Obama took pains to say he believes in the right to bear arms - "this is not a plot to take away everybody's guns," he said - and that gun violence can be reduced while being consistent with the Second Amendment.
He cited Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, as well as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., all of whom were open to expanding background checks.
"We all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech, but we accept that you can't yell 'fire' in a theater," Obama said. "We understand there are some constraints on our freedom, in order to protect innocent people."
He noted that a majority of gun owners agree. A July poll by the Pew Research Center found that 85 percent of Americans - including 88 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Republicans - favored expanding background checks to private gun sales and gun shows.
Obama said that, after Connecticut passed a law requiring background checks and gun safety courses, gun deaths decreased by 40 percent. After Missouri repealed a law requiring comprehensive background checks and permits, gun deaths increased nearly 50 percent, compared to the national average, Obama said.
None of that convinced Reps. Alex Mooney and Evan Jenkins, both R-W.Va.
"President Obama's most recent executive order is his latest of many proposals aimed at stripping away the rights of law-abiding American citizens," Mooney said in a prepared statement. "I will fight with my colleagues in Congress to stop Obama's continual executive overreach."
Jenkins said Obama "does not believe firearms can be responsibly owned, sold and purchased," a statement not supported by fact that Obama repeatedly has denied.
"I will fight this administration, using the power of the purse, to defund this executive action and the president's continued executive overreach," Jenkins said.
Reach David Gutman at david.gutman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5119 or follow @davidlgutman on Twitter.