E R N I E ' S   H O U S E   O F   W H O O P A S S

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system. -- Translation: The Veterans Administration is going to name every soldier that has been diagnosed with PTSD.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system. -- Sounds reasonable.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system. -- Sounds reasonable

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks. -- I'm uncomfortable with "categories of individuals" and would like that clarified.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun. -- Needs further explanation. if by 'seized gun' they mean a police officer taking possession of a firearm during a traffic stop, then fuck you. If by 'seized gun' you mean during an arrest, then sounds reasonable.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers. -- Sounds reasonable. It would however, make more sense to extend NICS background check authority to the police, who could run the checks for a firearm transfer without charging a fee like an FFL would.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign. -- About fucking time.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission). -- Seems pointless.

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations. -- This isn't done already? I know it is at the state level in most places.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement. -- Sounds reasonable. Start with the Attorney General, Eric Holder.

11. Nominate an ATF director. -- Sounds reasonable.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations. -- Sounds reasonable.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime. -- What the fuck does this even mean?

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence. -- About fucking time. Start with those shooters who were taking... Zoloft, or Cymbalta, or Luvoxor, or Vestra, or Lexapro, or Wellbutrin, or Celexa, or Prozac, or Savella, or Remeron, or Effexor , or Paxil.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies. -- Sounds reasonable. Except for the Attorney General, fuck him.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes. -- Um. Okay.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities. -- Sounds reasonable.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers. -- Sounds reasonable/About fucking time.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education. -- Sounds reasonable.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover. -- Sounds reasonable and long overdue.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges. -- Sounds reasonable.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations. -- Department of Redundancy Department.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health. -- Sounds reasonable/About fucking time.