Biden Set to Increase Gun Control with a Stroke of His Pen
President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday aimed at further gun control.
Biden’s order will create “as close to universal background checks as possible” without action by Congress, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House.
The announcement is set to be made in Monterey Park, California. In January, 11 people were killed at a Monterey Park dance club — a setting that shows Biden clearly capitalizing on a tragedy to advance his agenda.
The fact sheet states that Biden’s order will “[i]ncrease the number of background checks by ensuring that all background checks required by law are conducted before firearm purchases, moving the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland is ordered “to move the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation by clarifying, as appropriate, the statutory definition of who is ‘engaged in the business’ of dealing in firearms, as updated by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”
According to NBC News, the National Instant Background Check System carried out more than 31 million background checks last year.
An administration official providing an advance briefing said it is not known how many additional background checks would be done under the new order, according to NBC.
However, the official said that “fewer guns will be sold without background checks, and therefore fewer guns will end up in the hands of felons and domestic abusers.”
The order also seeks a plan developed to “prevent former federally licensed firearms dealers, whose licenses have been revoked or surrendered, from continuing to engage in the business of dealing in firearms.”
President Biden is set to sign an executive order Tuesday that officials say aims to increase the number of background checks before gun purchases. The president hopes to also encourage the effective use of “red flag” laws.
Watch #EarlyMorning: https://t.co/bxal9hsDzZ pic.twitter.com/mXP3zUWdg5
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) March 14, 2023
The plan seeks increased use of so-called “red flag” laws to take away guns from legal gun owners if a court can rules they should not have them.
“President Biden is directing members of his Cabinet to encourage effective use of extreme risk protection orders, including by partnering with law enforcement, health care providers, educators, and other community leaders,” the order states.
“In addition, President Biden is directing members of his Cabinet to expand existing federal campaigns and other efforts to promote safe storage of firearms.”
The order also calls for reducing the number of guns stolen during shipment.
Gun makers are also in Biden’s sights. The order requires the Federal Trade Commission to “issue a public report analyzing how gun manufacturers market firearms to minors and how such manufacturers market firearms to all civilians, including through the use of military imagery.”
The order will also require agencies to speed up implementation of last year’s gun control act passed by Congress, and develop a plan for putting federal resources into communities in which a mass shooting has taken place.
The fact sheet states that when “a mass shooting overwhelms a community, no coordinated U.S. government mechanism exists to meet short- and long-term needs, such as mental health care for grief and trauma, financial assistance (for example, when a family loses the sole breadwinner or when a small business is shut down due to a lengthy shooting investigation), and food (for example, when the Buffalo shooting closed down the only grocery store in the neighborhood).
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
