Guns

Biden Preparing Executive Orders On Gun Violence

Written by SK Ashby

At the end of the day, there are some hard legal limits to what the president himself can do, but the White House is reportedly preparing a series of executive orders that will address gun violence.

Among other things, President Biden will attempt to close loopholes and expand other programs and services according to Politico.

Among the executive actions under consideration by the administration is one that would require buyers of so-called ghost guns — homemade or makeshift firearms that lack serial numbers — to undergo background checks, according to three people who have spoken to the White House about their plans. [...]

A White House official said that Biden is considering “every tool at our disposal, including executive actions” and is looking at investing in community violence programs, requiring background checks, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and repealing gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability. But Biden still lacks a Senate-confirmed attorney general and director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who will play a key role in any executive branch action on guns.

I believe there's virtually no chance that we'll see Congress ban assault weapons anytime soon and liberal critics are likely going to say Biden hasn't done enough at some point. And that may still be true to some extent, but his hands will be tied just as President Obama's were. President Obama literally cried on national television while asking Congress to do something after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and it didn't move a single Republican to act. They actually mocked him for crying.

This is one issue where I personally don't believe it would be worth eliminating the legislative filibuster to achieve it. It's unlikely that all 50 Senate Democrats would support it, but even if they did it would be on shaky legal ground in courtrooms from day one.

It's just a matter of time before another mass shooting reminds us how gravely important this issue is, but our experience tells us even that won't matter to about half of Congress.

Honestly, it's difficult to imagine that we'll ever fully and adequately address gun violence, but if we ever do I'm sure it will come under a future president and Congress and not this one. There's too much else to do and a limited amount of time to do it.