President Clinton is reportedly about to issue an executive order that would stop U.S. gun dealers from importing some types of sports rifles. The rifles are legal under U.S. law, and the gun dealers have import permits from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF).

However, the White House has been considering the executive order for the past month and the president may announce an order tomorrow. According to the White House:

• The rifles include some models that are reconfigured versions of so-called assault rifles banned in the 1994 crime bill.

• The BATF approved permits for 150,000 of the weapons in one recent week, and since 1994 has approved permits to import 600,000.

• But so far, only 15,000 of the permitted weapons have actually arrived in the U.S.

While President Clinton reportedly would like to stop the permitted weapons from entering the U.S., some aides argue that such a move would lead to a lawsuit that might threaten his authority to issue an executive order stopping future permits.

White House press secretary Mike McCurry said the BATF may freeze some of the license applications, and Kristen Rand of the Violence Policy Center says "The president needs to reverse the sporting purpose [loophole] and close this avenue."