The Biden-Harris administration is issuing an executive order ostensibly aimed at reducing gun violence. This comes as Vice President Kamala Harris is facing scrutiny over her support for various gun control measures.
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order that will ban gun conversion devices while establishing an emerging firearms threats task force. It will also improve active shooter drills in schools to prepare students for mass shootings.
The White House says firearm technology is rapidly evolving and Biden’s actions are aimed at reducing two key emerging threats: machine gun conversion devices and 3D printed firearms.
The senior administration official said conversion devices, those that aid in converting semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic firearm, are already illegal under federal law but are continuing to be used in crime and recovered by law enforcement agencies across the country.
The relatively new 3D printed firearms are built from computer code downloaded from the internet, making them widely available. They also lack serial numbers, which often help investigators trace firearms recovered at crime scenes. These 3D printed firearms can also be built with non-metal materials, making them undetectable by magnetometers used to secure airports, courthouses, and event spaces, the senior administration official said.
Biden’s executive order will establish an emerging firearms threats task force consisting of leadership from various federal departments and agencies.
It will be tasked with issuing a report within 90 days that includes an assessment of the threat posed by machine gun conversion devices and 3D printed firearms, the senior administration official said.
Biden will sign the executive order during an event at the White House on Thursday. The event takes place on the one-year anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration’s creation of an office of gun violence prevention, another agency aimed at supposedly reducing gun violence by threatening the gun rights of law-abiding citizens.
The move is also aimed at helping to build Biden’s legacy during his last months in office.
It’s also a legacy-building exercise for Biden, likely some of his last moves on what has been a top policy priority for his White House, from passing the first gun legislation in 30 years to issuing more executive actions on the issue than any prior administration.
The event is the culmination of a week of efforts from the White House to highlight the office’s work. The White House rolled out a report earlier this week on the office’s official anniversary, highlighting the administration’s actions — including that under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, enhanced background checks have blocked thousands of gun sales to people under the age of 21 and those convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence. The White House also touted the drop in violent crime — which Biden is also expected to highlight on Thursday — after the FBI reported that homicides fell by 11.6 percent nationwide in 2023, and that violent crime overall fell by 3 percent after a surge during the pandemic.
Of course, no sane person actually believes the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act had anything to do with drops in violent crime as these gun control measures do nothing to stop those who do not respect gun laws.
The order directs the surgeon general and secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services to establish guidance on how schools conduct active shooter drills.
“Schools are currently using drills to prepare for their shooter’s situation, but there is very limited research on how to design and deploy these drills to maximize their effectiveness and limit any collateral harms they might cause,” said Stefanie Feldman, director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, during a call with members of the press. “Many parents, students and educators have expressed concerns about the trauma caused by some approaches to these drills.”
Notably absent from this move is any mention of heightened security measures to protect students. This is not surprising given that Democrats oppose making it harder for would-be school shooters to carry out acts of violence on campus. Instead, they prefer to target gun owners who do not pose a threat to anyone else’s safety.
This executive order, like other anti-gunner measures coming from the Biden-Harris administration, is simply a way to make it appear as if the White House is taking action to reduce violence committed using firearms while not actually addressing the problem.
Harris has battled accusations of being an anti-gunner by claiming she owns a handgun. Nevertheless, it is clear that her actual position on firearms is the same as other Democrats: “Guns for me, but not for thee.”
