In middle of gun-control push, Obama pardons man on weapon conviction

Despite President Obama’s push for greater gun control, he pardoned a Georgia man Friday who was convicted for possessing an unregistered firearm.

The leniency for Larry Wayne Thornton of Forsyth, Ga., who was sentenced to four years probation for violating the state’s gun law, was one of 17 pardons Mr. Obama granted late Friday.

The pardon comes as Mr. Obama is stressing the need to know who is purchasing weapons, though he has not called for a national registry, which the National Rifle Association vehemently opposes.

“If you want to buy a gun — whether it’s from a licensed dealer or a private seller — you should at least have to show you are not a felon or somebody legally prohibited from buying one,” Mr. Obama said in January. “We should get tougher on people who buy guns with the express purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. And we should severely punish anybody who helps them do this.”

The other offenses Mr. Obama pardoned ranged from cocaine possession to immigration violations to more minor offenses such as stealing cable television signals and food-stamp fraud. It was the third time Mr. Obama had issued pardons.

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