The move, proclaimed in a California speech, is clearly intended to work around Congress and fulfill his gun control aspirations in a way that elected legislators refuse to do.
Symbolically, the afternoon address was delivered in Monterey Park, the city where a gunman killed 11 and injured multiple others after a Lunar New Year celebration in January. The president paid respects to the victims and then got down to business.
Biden said his executive order is intended to “accelerate and intensify” his gun control agenda and save “more lives more quickly.”
Specifically, the order mandates an increase in the number of background checks for gun purchasers, encourages more safe storage of weapons, and shores up last year’s gun control package.
The president continues to call for legislation delivered to his desk from Congress mandating universal background checks. In the meantime, his executive order instructs Attorney General Merrick Garland “to take every lawful action possible to move us as close as we can to universal background checks without legislation.”
Biden announced his order will create “an independent government study that analyzes and exposes how gun manufacturers aggressively market firearms to civilians, especially minors.”
And right on cue, the president repeated his determination to enact his oft called for ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines.
There was a level of irony in his chosen state to make his announcement. Every regulation he mentioned is already in place in the Golden State, including the “assault weapon” ban. Yet somehow that does not stop the state from being the FBI’s number one site for “active shooter incidents” in 2021.
Biden’s emotional announcement ignored several clear facts. The firearms industry that he so regularly rails against worked hand-in-hand with Congress last year to forge the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This package was passed by lawmakers and signed by the president.
The president accused the industry, without supporting evidence, of selling firearms without the mandatory FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NCIS) being implemented. The truth is, the firearms industry is at the forefront of the instant background check system at the point of sale to confirm who is legally eligible to purchase a weapon.
Every step of the way, the weapons industry has led the effort to enhance gun safety, proficiency training, and weed out those who should not have the legal capacity to possess a gun.
Part of Biden’s plan is to promote so-called “red flag” laws. Gun rights groups are generally not opposed to these provisions, though it is highly preferable that they protect the individual’s due process rights.
They are currently present in 19 states and the District of Columbia. None of these have due process protections in place.
The president’s scapegoating of the weapons manufacturers is hardly rooted in reality. As for his safety measures, nowhere are they already emphasized and taught more than within the industry. Every weapon comes from the factory with a locking device, and over 40 million firearm safety kits have been distributed around the nation.
Safe storage would not exist without a solid commitment from those within the firearms community.
The weapons industry is already on record supporting the closure of the “boyfriend loophole.” That need has already been legally addressed.
As for universal background checks, the industry continues to oppose this stringent measure. The system is simply unworkable without a national firearm registry, and that is a draconian step that no reasonable Second Amendment advocate supports.
