Congress, as with so many things, has been useless when it comes to setting sensible gun policies in this country.

You know the pattern by now: After Newtown, after Roseburg, after San Bernardino, and the hundreds of other mass shootings the country has seen, a DC drowning in gun lobby cash can't come to any semblance of an agreement on how to change things for the better.

So, as he did with amid a similar standstill on immigration policy, President Obama is pulling out executive orders. The president announced today he's received recommendations from honchos at the US Department of Justice on what he can do, under his authority as president, to help stem the tide. And he intends to follow them.

"Although 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, it will potentially save lives and spare families the pain and the extraordinary loss that they’ve suffered as a consequence of a firearm getting in the hands of the wrong people," Obama said today, noting that Congress still needs to enact comprehensive reforms.

The administration will roll out more details in coming days, but here are some of what it made clear in a fact sheet accompanying the president's announcement. The president wants to:

•Bolster background checks. The president says the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is creating a rule to require that people seeking to buy weapons "through a trust, corporation, or other legal entity" will need to complete a check.

And he's clarifying that anyone who sells guns—be they gun shops or online hobbyists—has to get a license and conduct background checks.

"It doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a store, at gun shows, or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks," the administrations' release says.

To that end, the FBI is working to streamline the background check process, the president says. The US Attorney General's Office is also reaching out to states to try and ensure it has complete criminal history data.

The New York Times notes Obama's background check proposals fall short of stronger policy he sought from Congress several years ago.

•Provide funding for 200 new ATF agents "to help enforce our gun laws," and create a new rule that dealers whose guns are lost or stolen in the mail must inform law enforcement. The ATF will also more closely monitor illegal online gun sales, the fact sheet says.

•Kick in $500 million to increase access to mental health care. The president also is pushing a policy where the Social Security Administration provides information about beneficiaries of that public funding who can't own a gun because of mental health issues.

•Direct federal agencies "to conduct or sponsor research into gun safety technology" and look into increasing the use of "smart gun" technologies that stop unauthorized users from shooting a gun.

As NPR notes, these provisions will be the subject of tooth-and-nail battling on the part of the gun lobby. And it's unclear how meaningfully they'll curb violence in a country teeming with guns.

Obama acknowledges as much, but says these are things he's able to do. He also believes the measures will withstand legal challenges that are sure to follow.

Obama told reporters he's "confident that the recommendations that are being made by my team here are ones that are entirely consistent with the Second Amendment and people’s lawful right to bear arms."