GunBeat: President Obama is expected to announce today that he’s taking executive action to tighten gun-buying background checks and step up enforcement of the nation’s’ gun laws. The President will not be able to close the so-called “gun show loophole,” but by his order anyone who makes a living selling guns will have to register as a licensed gun dealer and conduct background checks on customers.

He expects to face legal and political challenges.

The President said yesterday, “We have to be very clear that this is not going to solve every violent crime in this country. It’s not going to prevent every mass shooting; it’s not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal.”

MoneyBeat: Wall Street futures indicate a mild decline today after yesterday’s roller coaster in the financial markets. The Dow closed nearly 300 points lower after Asian markets hit a banana peel.

Patriot Games: Some observers of the “Patriot” standoff in eastern Oregon are wondering why the camouflage cowboys who’ve taken over several federal buildings have not received the full terrorist treatment. They note that if the same action was taken by gun-toting black or Islamic militants, SWAT teams would be all over the place.

The weekend passed without any law enforcement effort to confront or evict the armed occupants at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge center outside Burns, Ore., who say they plan to stay for years and may shoot it out if the cops and feds come for them. They are now calling themselves “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.” The FBI is said to be “monitoring” the situation.

The occupation is an outgrowth of long frustration with federal land ownership and livestock grazing policies in the West. Local Sheriff David Ward said in a statement Sunday that “These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives, to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.”

Maybe someone will tell them the federal government is in Washington.

Politics: Former President Bill Clinton hit the campaign trail yesterday for his wife Hillary saying, “I do not believe in my lifetime anybody has run for this job at a moment of great importance who was better qualified by knowledge experience and temperament.”

Give him a break. She’s his wife.

But Bill’s presence opens the door for Donald Trump to attack Clinton’s in-office sex scandal and his lotharian reputation. Trump tweeted, “The worst thing Hillary could do is have her husband campaign for her. Just watch.”

Trump has also rolled out his first campaign ad which says “he’ll quickly cut the head off ISIS” and build a wall on the southern border “that Mexico will pay for.” Presumably the bill will be “huge.”

Gridiron Blues: Tom Coughlin, the crusty coach who led the NY Giants to two Super Bowl wins in 12 years, has resigned after his third losing season in a row. Yesterday was “Black Monday,” the day after the end of the regular season when failing coaches get their pink slips.

Coughlin, one of the longest serving coaches in the NFL, finishes with a regular season record of 102 wins and 90 losses with the Giants. Quarterback Eli Manning was emotional saying, “He definitely has not failed these players, we failed him.”

The 69-year old Coughlin has coached for 46 years. When he arrived at the Giants he was micromanaging tyrant who couldn’t put together a winning season and was close to getting bounced when his wife staged a personal intervention. She told him, “Tom, they don’t just dislike you, they hate you.” He changed his approach and became a winner.

Chem 101: For the first time, Japanese scientists will be called upon to name a new element, #113, because they discovered it. Usually the scientists from the discovering country name an element, hence; francium, germanium, scandium, polonium, europium. We have no suggestions, but hope the Japanese contribution is clever.