President Biden enacts new gun control law via executive order
- In Reports
- 12:53 PM, Sep 27, 2024
- Myind Staff
In an effort to address the problem of gun violence in the US, Joe Biden signed a new executive order today, just weeks before his term as president comes to an end. President Biden wrote on the social media platform X, "Join Vice President Kamala Harris and me as we deliver remarks on addressing the scourge of gun violence in America." He further stated, "We need to talk about the problem of guns in America in order to end the problem of gun violence in America." He then revealed a sobering statistic, stating, "Gun violence is the number one cause of deaths of children in America—even more than disease or accidents."
The President said earlier in the day, "Today, I'll sign an Executive Order to crack down on emerging firearm threats like unsterilised, 3D-printed guns and machine gun conversion devices." The post was shared on his official X account. "It is our job to do better," President Biden continued, adding that the order will "also direct my Cabinet to help improve school-based active shooter drills."
Vice President Kamala Harris took over as head of the department that studies gun laws in 2023. She was given the responsibility of assisting in the reduction of gun violence in the United States and ending the presence of firearms in educational institutions such as schools. President Biden has now made the decision to enact legislation by Presidential Order, the US's highest authority, to stop the threat of firearms and school and college shootings, six weeks before the 2024 presidential election.
Machine gun conversion devices, which transform a handgun or pistol into an automatic firearm or weapon, are among the "emerging firearm threats" that will be the subject of the order's first section. Although these gadgets are already prohibited, the new law will guarantee a crackdown on their availability because law enforcement has discovered the indiscriminate use of such equipment. The other threats that this legislation seeks to address are unlicensed firearms, or firearms without serial numbers, that are 3D printed and may evade detection even by metal detectors and scanners.
The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of Education, and other key departments have all been urged by President Biden to collaboratively draft Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs, in the second part of the two-part Presidential order. The purpose of this is to guarantee that regular drills will take place in schools and other vulnerable locations where similar incidents have occurred.
The US law enforcement agencies will also be required by this order to veto the sale of firearms, ammo, and other automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
According to data, America had an average of 120.5 civilian guns per 100 people, more than twice as many as Yemen, the next country on the list (52.8 guns). The United States faces a significant issue with gun violence, particularly in light of the rising number of shootings at schools and universities. The American Academy of Pediatrics reported last year that the number of children killed by firearms in the US has reached all-time highs.
As per the available data, the number of children who lost their lives due to gun-related injuries increased to 4,752 in 2021 from 4,368 in 2020 and 3,390 in 2019. Since 2020, gun violence has actually been the leading cause of death for children in the US. The study also revealed that white children made up roughly 78% of gun-assisted suicides and Black children approximately 67% of firearm homicides. At least four people lost their lives in a school shooting in Georgia just two weeks ago. It turned out that the now-arrested suspect was fourteen years old.
In the last 20 years, there have been hundreds of shootings inside US colleges and schools; the deadliest of these occurred at Virginia Tech in 2007 and claimed over 30 lives. The brutality has spurred intense discussion about US gun regulations and the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects the right "to keep and bear arms."
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