WASHINGTON – President Biden is expected to unveil a series of executive actions on Thursday that addressed gun violence, weeks after 18-year-olds were shot dead and brought the issue of gun legislation to the forefront for a government that has tackled several crises.
Mr. Biden is also expected to announce his intention to appoint David Chipman, a gun control lawyer, to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, officials said. The bureau has not had a permanent director since 2015.
The actions come because Mr. Biden was under pressure to address gun violence, but made it clear that it is currently not possible to push legislation through a blockade of the Republican opposition. Officials reiterated on Wednesday that the proposals the president plans to announce along with Attorney General Merrick B. Garland were only a beginning and that the president would continue to call on Congress to take action.
The Justice Department on Thursday announced three initiatives to combat gun violence.
One rule would help to stop the spread of so-called ghost guns – kits with which a gun can be assembled from pieces. White House officials did not want to say whether the government is ultimately trying to classify ghost weapons as firearms, but only that the department is trying to stop criminals from buying kits with all the components and directions to build one.
A second rule will make it clear that when a device marketed as a stabilizing prop converts a pistol into a short-barreled rifle, the weapon is subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act. The gunman in Boulder, Colo., Who shot last month, used a handgun with an armrest, making it more stable and accurate, officials said.
Finally, the Department of Justice will also publish “red flag” model legislation for states. The measure will enable police officers and family members to request a court to temporarily remove firearms from people who may pose a danger to themselves or others. While Mr. Biden cannot pass national red flag legislation without Congress, officials said, the purpose of the guidance was to make it easier for states that want to pass it. The department also plans to release a comprehensive report on the trade in firearms, which it has not done since 2000.
According to Mr. Biden’s work plan calls on Congress to raise $ 5 billion over eight years to support evidence-based community violence intervention programs. Officials would not say whether they intended to increase the budget for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Since Congress is unlikely to pass any gun legislation, the White House stressed the importance of executive action as a more realistic starting point for Mr. Biden’s promise to end gun violence. Susan E. Rice, the director of the Home Policy Council, was the head of government over the forthcoming executive actions.
Yet gun control groups supporting Biden’s candidacy have criticized the president for not giving gun legislation a top priority, as he promised at the campaign.
For others, the decision of Mr. Pray to continue its ambitious work and infrastructure plan – even after two mass shootings – a more pragmatic approach by a president dealing with multiple crises and the Republican opposition to gun control measures.
The House passed two bills last month, but it is languishing in the Senate in light of the 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation, requiring the support of at least ten Republicans.
On Wednesday, officials who previewed Biden’s first attempts to combat gun violence stressed that it was only an “initial set of actions”, which tempered expectations for more meaty or more specific initiatives by noting that Garland less than a month was attorney general. .
“This much-needed executive action will save lives immediately,” said Shannon Watts, founder of the arms control group Moms Demand Action, “and our grassroots level of nearly six million supporters looks forward to standing behind President Biden. while urging the Senate to follow his lead and act. ”