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President Biden will announce a series of executive orders to address gun violence on Thursday.
Among the six separate actions, Biden will ask the Department of Justice to issue a proposed rule to help stop the rise of so-called “ghost guns” within 30 days.
Those firearms are assembled from individual parts purchased online and don’t have serial numbers. They’re difficult to track and are unregulated, according to a White House official. Within 60 days, the DOJ will be expected to issue a proposed rule stating that “a device marked as a stabilizing brace, capable of turning a pistol into a short-barreled rifle, be subject to the National Firearms Act.”
The president, who will be joined by Attorney General Merrick Garland, will nominate David Chipman, an adviser to the gun control organization founded by former Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Biden will also call for community violence intervention, and lean on the DOJ to publish a new annual report on firearms trafficking, which hasn’t been done since 2000.
However, the President isn’t expected to address the issue of assault rifles in these actions and there will be no legislative proposal coming from his administration. But senior administration officials say that these are only initial actions, allowing for an expansion in the coming months.
Biden’s executive actions are limited and it remains unclear how effective they will be or if they will face any legal challenges. Gun rights groups including the NRA have said they will immediately review any action and says “these actions could require law-abiding citizens to surrender lawful property, and push states to expand gun confiscation orders.”
The President will be joined on Thursday by gun control advocates and some Democratic lawmakers who have pushed for gun control legislation on Capitol Hill.
