OAN Roy Francis
UPDATED 9:18 AM – Tuesday, March 14, 2023
President Joe Biden is set to announce a new executive order that would move the United States “as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.”
The president will be visiting Monterey Park, California on Tuesday where a gunman had killed 11 people in January. Biden is expected to sign his new executive order during his visit where he will also meet with the families that were impacted by the shooting.
According to the White House some of the changes that the executive order will make include expanding background checks by expanding the statutory definition of a firearms dealer. It will also require Attorney General Merrick Garland to prevent former federally licensed dealers, who have had their licenses revoked or surrendered, from engaging in the business of firearms.
The attorney general will also be required to release the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) records from inspections of dealers that were in violation of firearms laws.
The order will require the secretary of transportation to work with the Department of Justice to “reduce the loss or theft of firearms during shipment” by engaging with carriers and shippers.
The White House said that the gun industry will be held “accountable” by providing “more information regarding federally licensed firearms dealers who are violating the law.”
The order will require law enforcement agencies to issue “rigorous requirements regarding NIBIN data submission and use of this tool.” The National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) allows law enforcement to match fired casings to the guns from which they were fired. This makes it easier for law enforcement officials to connect multiple crimes and catch shooters.
Under the new order, the president will also intensify the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act which increases federal support for gun violence survivors, victims and survivors’ families, first responders and communities affected by gun violence. He will also advance efforts to prevent the distribution of firearms undetectable by metal detectors.
The new measure will also enhance background checks for buyers under 21, add penalties for gun criminals and provides funding for health and mental health-related programs. The order will also close the “boyfriend loophole” which had allowed spousal domestic abusers to have their gun rights taken away but not unmarried ones.
Biden is also directing his cabinet to encourage “the effective use” of the new orders by partnering with law enforcement, health care providers, educators, and other community leaders.
Biden has repeatedly pledged to ban “assault weapons” and high capacity magazines. In June 2022, he had signed into law the most expansive gun control bill in nearly 30 years.
A senior administration official celebrated Biden’s executive actions throughout his presidency so far in relations to gun violence.
“The president is going to continue to fight for common sense gun safety legislation, and there are all sorts of pieces of legislation we need,” the official said. “But in the meantime, [the president] wants the federal government to be doing all we can with existing authority to reduce gun violence. And that is what this executive order does.”
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