Joe Biden expected to sign new executive order on gun control

President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday aiming to increase the number of background checks to buy guns promote better and more secure firearms storage and ensure US law enforcement agencies are getting the most out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summerThe Democratic president plans to unveil his latest efforts at curbing gun violence in a speech from Monterey Park California said a senior White House official who discussed the order ahead of its signing on the condition of anonymityIn January a gunman stormed a dance hall in the community near Los Angeles and shot 20 people killing 11 following a Lunar New Year celebration Bidens rhetoric has only grown stronger around guns he calls for banning socalled assault weapons routinely in his speeches and Democrats didnt push such a vocal antigun platform even during the Obama administration when Biden was vice presidentBut Biden has been emboldened by the midterms after his regular talk of gun control didnt result in massive losses and hes expected to continue to push for strong changes as he inches toward a 2024 run his aides sayBiden invited Brandon Tsay the 26yearold who wrestled the semiautomatic pistol away from the gunman in Monterey Park to his State of the Union address and praised the young mans heroism He saved lives Its time we do the same as well Biden said in his speech to Congress Ban assault weapons once and for allBut his power is limited to go beyond bipartisan legislation passed by Congress last summer the most sweeping gun violence bill in decades It followed the killing of 19 students and two teachers at a Uvalde Texas elementary school Too many lives have been taken by gun violence White House press secretary Karine JeanPierre saidBut he believes we need to do more Youll hear him call on Congress to take action and not to stop that we need to continueBiden will mandate that his Cabinet work on a plan to better structure the government to support communities suffering from gun violence said the senior White House official who previewed the orderThe plan will call on Attorney General Merrick Garland to shore up the rules for federally licensed gun dealers so they know they are required to do background checks as part of the license Biden is also mandating better reporting of ballistics data from federal law enforcement for a clearinghouse that allows federal state and local law enforcement to match shell casings to gunsAlso read Donald Trump endangered my family on January 6 says Mike PenceBut local and state law enforcement agencies are not required to report ballistics data and many do not making the clearinghouse less effective And the president is going to ask the Federal Trade Commission to issue a public report analysing how gun manufacturers market to minors and use military images to market to the general publicThe bill passed last year known as the Safer Communities Act is viewed by gun control advocates as a good start but one that doesnt go far enough After the law was signed there were 11 other mass shootings according to a database of mass killings since 2006 maintained by The Associated Press USA Today and Northeastern UniversityThose killings dont include shootings in which fewer than four people were killed and gun violence is also rising nationwide President Bidens executive order today is a home run for public safety said John Feinblatt president of Everytown for Gun SafetyThis is the latest example of President Bidens leadership on gun safety and were proud to stand with him as he takes robust action to help close the gun seller loophole which will significantly expand background checks on gun sales keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous people and save livesBiden will also direct his Cabinet to make sure law enforcement agencies understand the benefits of the new law particularly around redflag laws also known as extreme risk protection orders which are intended to temporarily remove guns from people with potentially violent behaviour and prevent them from hurting themselves or othersLast month the Justice Department sent out more than 200 million to help states and the District of Columbia administer redflag laws and other crisisintervention programmesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever