Obama nominates B. Todd Jones for firearms post

B. Todd Jones

Stating that now is the time to do something about violence, U.S. President Barack Obama signed 23 Executive Orders today and nominated B. Todd Jones as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (AFT) to curb the sale of guns and assault rifles. 

"...while reducing gun violence is a complicated challenge, protecting our children from harm shouldn’t be a divisive one," Obama said during his remarks in the South Court Auditorium.

B. Todd Jones has been acting director of the AFT since 2009 and currently serves as the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota. He is a former Marine and served during Operation Desert Storm. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Jones if confirmed will head the ATF which has 5,000 employees and an annual budget of $1.12 billion (2010). Jones is 55, married, and has five children.

Executive Orders delegate discretionary powers to the President under the Constitution to help manage the operations within the federal government and have the full force of law.

The Executive Orders consist of the following directives:

1. Require a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun.
2. Restore a ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines .
3. Help law enforcement as it does its job to get tougher on people who buy guns with the express purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. 

"In the month since 20 precious children and six brave adults were violently taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun -- 900 in the past month.  And every day we wait, that number will keep growing," Obama stated.

Photo: Official ATF portrait of B. Todd Jones