In general, legislation sets relatively broad guidelines, and then executive orders are issued to deal the fine points of the action set forth by the law. Executive orders are like "instruction manuals," specifying how to accomplish things. I spent thirty years doing security clearance investigations under Executive Order 10450, issued in 1953 by President Eisenhower and revised and renewed many times thereafter. I suppose that many of the executive orders attributed to President Obama, are just reissuances of previous orders that have served us for years.

The executive order President Obama issued on gun control, seems to be in accord with precedents set for executive order - it simply gives specifics for enforcing existing legislation, and makes no new law itself.

The wackos will scream, but today's executive order, while welcome, isn't really anything new.

The American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara says that Obama issued 144 executive orders in his first term. George W. Bush issued 291 in two terms.

-Joe-