Can Obama use his Executive power to immediately ban high-powered rifles and big magazines?

[TeddyR]

20. Automatic weapons are already illegal under federal law

And have been since the mid-80s. The firearm used in the Orlando attack was a semi-automatic rifle, meaning it fires one round (not multiple rounds) with each trigger pull, and is legal largely everywhere except a handful of states. It is not a military rifle and is functionally similar to most hunting rifles on the market. And semi-automatic rifles are used in only a small percentage of murders when compared to handguns. In reality they aren't any deadlier (and are used in far fewer murders) than a semi-automatic handgun, aside from the fact that they do accept magazines that hold 30 or more rounds. Prior to the Orlando attacks the deadliest mass shooting in the US was the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, and the gunman there used two semi-automatic pistols. On a state by state basis I think there is little appetite for banning these types of weapons, although we may see a push for banning high-capacity magazines.