Biden announces steps to limit U.S. 'ghost' guns, plans to tackle
assault weapons
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[April 09, 2021]
By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden
and his Attorney General Merrick Garland announced limited measures to
tackle gun violence in the United States on Thursday in what the White
House described as a first step to curb mass shootings, community
bloodshed and suicides.
The new measures include plans for the Justice Department to crack down
on self-assembled "ghost guns" and make "stabilizing braces" - which
effectively turn pistols into rifles - subject to registration under the
National Firearms Act.
Biden said he will ask the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives to release an annual report on firearms trafficking in the
United States, and make it easier for states to adopt "red flag" laws
that flag at-risk individuals who own guns.
Biden also outlined more ambitious goals that he needs the support of
Congress to accomplish, including reintroducing a ban on assault
weapons, lifting an exemption on lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and
passing a nationwide red flag law.
The executive orders unveiled on Thursday are not legislative. The White
House promised that more action was coming.
"Today we're taking steps to confront not just the gun crisis, but what
is actually a public health crisis," Biden said, speaking in the Rose
Garden to an audience filled with family members of victims of gun
violence.
He noted another mass shooting in South Carolina this week.
"This is an epidemic, for God's sake, and it has to stop," Biden said.
Advocates for gun restrictions welcomed the measures.
"This is a significant set of actions," said Peter Ambler, executive
director of Giffords, a gun violence prevention group, praising Biden
for promising to do more. "Some of the most important words that he
uttered were: this is just the start."
Biden, a Democrat who has a long history of advocating for gun
restrictions, has come under pressure to step up action after recent
mass shootings in Colorado and Georgia.
Biden announced the measures alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and
Merrick Garland, who Biden said would prioritize gun violence as head of
the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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A participant in an armed rally shows a gun that has a 3D printed
lower receiver, a weapon known as a "ghost" gun, at a rally in
Richmond, Virginia, U.S., January 18, 2021. Picture taken January
18, 2021. Ford Fischer/News2Share/Handout via REUTERS
"We've had more tragedy than we can bear," Harris said. "People on
both sides of the aisle want action .... So all that is left is the
will and the courage to act."
The DOJ will issue a proposed rule on ghost guns in 30 days, and
proposed rules on stabilizing braces within 60 days.
Garland said the department will also be rethinking the way that it
analyzes criminal cases and investigations to try learn more about
modern gun-trafficking patterns.
Gun control is a politically divisive subject in the United States,
which has experienced a significant number of deadly mass shootings
at schools and other public venues for decades.
The National Rifle Association, which advocates for gun rights,
criticized the measures. "The proposals Biden announced today could
require law-abiding citizens to surrender lawful property and enable
states to expand gun confiscation orders," it said in a statement.
Most Americans support strengthening U.S. gun laws. An overwhelming
majority support expanding background checks and keeping guns from
the mentally ill, polls by Reuters and others show .
A series of gun control measures have failed in Congress, however.
"Enough prayers. Time for some action," Biden said on Thursday,
asking Congress to pass a proposed bill requiring background checks
at gun shows and online.
The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment protects the right to bear
arms, and state attempts to limit who can buy guns or how they can
carry them have been challenged in court by pro-gun lobby groups.
"Everything that is being proposed today is totally consistent with
the Second Amendment," Biden said. "And there's a wide consensus
behind the need to take action."
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason and Heather Timmons; Editing
by Sonya Hepinstall)
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