Biden says gun violence is an epidemic and calls for national law on red flags

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a series of executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence, while urging Congress to pass broader gun control legislation.

The set of actions, Biden’s first attempt as president to address the full arms policy in America, was unveiled in the wake of a recent wave of mass shootings across the country, including deadly attacks on Georgia and Colorado.

“This is an epidemic, for God’s sake, and it has to stop,” Biden said in a Rose Garden speech.

White House moves include directing the Justice Department to draft a rule that deals with the spread of “ghost weapons” that cannot be traced and to publish an example of “red flag” legislation that states can follow.

Red flag laws allow police or family members to apply to a court to ban a person from accessing weapons. Biden also called for a federal red-flag law, saying such legislation would prevent suicides, protect women from domestic violence, and arrest mass shooters before carrying out an attack.

Biden announced he would appoint former federal agent David Chipman to head the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Chipman, who has 25 years of experience as an ATF special agent, is a senior policy adviser to the Giffords arms control advocacy group.

This is what Biden’s actions will do, according to the White House:

• Tell the Justice Department to propose a rule within 30 days to help stop the proliferation of ghost weapons – guns assembled from kits that often have no serial numbers and are difficult to trace.
• Instruct the DOJ to draw up a rule within 60 days that clarifies the point at which a stabilizing arm effectively converts a pistol into a short-barreled rifle, subjecting that weapon to additional rules.
• Instruct the DOJ to publish, within 60 days, a model red-flag legislation that would allow police officers or family members to apply to a court to temporarily ban someone from accessing weapons under certain circumstances. . The White House says the model legislation will make it easier for states to pass their own versions of this law.
• Instruct the DOJ to issue a comprehensive report on arms trafficking.

The administration also intends to focus investment on “community violence interventions,” which are methods to reduce gun violence in cities without imprisoning people, according to the fact sheet. Some metropolitan areas, such as New York City, are facing an increase in shooting crimes and homicides amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden, in his speech on Thursday, lamented that armed violence has become, in his view, “an international shame” for the US.

“Our flag was still waving at half-staff for the victims of the horrific murder of eight Asian Americans in Georgia, when 10 more lives were ended in a mass murder in Colorado,” Biden said.

He spoke after a presentation by Vice President Kamala Harris, and his speech was followed by statements by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The president stressed that the recently announced actions were just initial steps and put pressure on federal lawmakers to pass arms reform proposals that have already been approved by the Democratic-led House.

“Congress can do a lot more to help with that effort and they can do it right now,” Biden said.

“They have offered many thoughts and prayers, members of Congress. But they have not passed a single federal law to reduce gun violence,” he said.

“Enough prayers; time for some action.”

But Biden also said he is “willing to work with anyone to achieve this” and expressed his desire to take additional action, including reinstating the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

“We should also eliminate gun manufacturers against the immunity they receive from Congress,” Biden said. “If I have something on my list, Lord came down and said, ‘Joe, you have one of these,’ give me this. ‘