Biden to announce executive actions on gun control
The president will unveil a series of actions intended to combat gun violence in the country.
Joe Biden is expected to announce his first actions on gun control. On Thursday (April 8), the president will unveil a series of executive actions intended to combat gun violence in the country.
Included in Biden’s package are stricter laws, including a requirement for buyers of “ghost guns” — which typically lack the serial numbers needed to track them — to undergo background checks. Other unknown actions will be revealed during Biden’s speech in which he may also name his choice for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — a role that is reportedly important in the enforcement of gun control legislation.
Demands for tighter gun regulations have recurred on several occasions over the years — an observation Biden has long promised to act on. During his presidential campaign, he revealed his intentions to enact universal background check laws and ban online sales of firearms among other things.
Most recently, after the fatal mass shootings in Atlanta and Colorado, Biden pushed for action from Congress.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future,” he said, adding his desires to see a ban on assault weapons and the closing of loopholes in the background check system.
Barack Obama also shared a few words after 10 people were killed in the Boulder shooting.
“It will take time to root out the disaffection, racism and misogyny that fuels so many of these senseless acts,” he tweeted at the time. “But we can make it harder for those with hate in their hearts to buy weapons of war. We can overcome opposition by cowardly politicians and the pressure of a gun lobby that opposes any limit on the ability of anyone to assemble an arsenal. We can, and we must.”