Just weeks before his term as US President ends, Joe Biden today signed a new executive order to address the problem of gun violence in America.
“Join Vice President Kamala Harris and me as we deliver remarks on addressing the crisis of gun violence in America,” President Biden posted on the social media website X.
“To end the problem of gun violence in America, we first need to talk about the problem of guns in America,” the president said, before giving a sad and worrying statistic – that “children are dying The number one cause of death in America is gun violence – even more than disease or accidents.”
“It’s tragic,” the president said.
Add @vp And I, as we deliver remarks on addressing the crisis of gun violence in America.
– President Biden (@POTUS) 26 September 2024
Earlier in the day, the president shared a post on his official I will sign the order.”
President Biden further said that the order “will also direct my Cabinet to help improve school-based active shooter drills,” adding that “it is our job to do better.”
The data shows that the average number of civilian guns per 100 people in the US was 120.5 guns, more than double that of the next country on that list – Yemen (52.8 guns).
Today, I will sign an executive order to crack down on emerging firearms threats such as non-serialized, 3D-printed guns and machine gun conversion devices.
It will also direct my Cabinet to help improve school-based active shooter drills.
It is our job to do better.
– President Biden (@POTUS) 26 September 2024
America’s gun violence problem
There is a serious problem of gun violence in the United States, especially with the increasing number of school and university shootings. According to research conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year, gun deaths among children in the US have reached a record high.
According to the data, 4,752 children died from gun-related injuries in 2021, the latest year for which data was available, up from 4,368 in 2020 and 3,390 in 2019. In fact, gun violence has been the number one cause of death for children in the United States since 2020.
The study showed that black children were responsible for approximately 67% of firearm murders, while white children were responsible for approximately 78% of gun-assisted suicides.
As recently as a fortnight ago, at least four people were killed in a school shooting in Georgia. Now the arrested suspect turned out to be a 14 year old boy.
There have been hundreds of shootings inside schools and colleges in the US over the past two decades, the deadliest of which was the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech that killed more than 30 people. The massacre has sparked fierce debate over US gun laws and the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. Which provides the right to “keep and bear Arms”.
President Biden’s executive order
In 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris was given charge of the department that handles gun legislation. He was made responsible for helping curb gun violence in America and ending the use of firearms in schools and other educational institutions.
Now, six weeks before the 2024 US presidential election, President Biden has decided to introduce a law by presidential order – the highest authority in the US – to prevent firearms and the threat of shootings in schools and colleges.
Under the order, the first part will focus on “emerging firearm threats,” including machine gun conversion devices — which turn a handheld gun or pistol into an automatic firearm or weapon. Such devices are already illegal, but since law enforcement agencies have found indiscriminate use of such devices, the new law will ensure a curb on its availability.
Other threats the law aims to address are unlicensed guns, or guns without serial numbers that are 3D printed, which are likely to go undetected even by scanners and metal detectors.
In the second part of the two-part presidential order, Mr Biden asked various departments including the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and even the Education Department and other key departments to jointly draft standard operating procedures or SOPs. Has appealed. To ensure that regular drills take place in schools and sensitive places where similar incidents have occurred.
Under this order, law enforcement officials in the US will also have to investigate the sale of guns, ammunition and other automatic and sub-automatic weapons.
More details of the presidential order will be revealed when Mr Biden signs it and it is confirmed.
an appeal before the order
Earlier this month, President Biden called for a complete ban on assault weapons. He said, “As a nation, we cannot continue to accept the carnage of gun violence.”
He also urged the US Congress to take strict action for gun control in the country. President Biden also contacted Republican lawmakers and said that some of their leaders “must finally say enough is enough”, adding that “we have to do something together. Let’s ban assault weapons.”
He acknowledged that these steps “will not bring those children back,” however, “if we do the things we’re talking about it will help save lives.” He added, “If we do it together we can…and I really think we can.”
President Biden also called for deeper checks and balances on arms and ammunition sales, calling for expanded background checks. He called for ending immunity for gun manufacturers as well as parents who allow their children to own weapons and that they be held accountable.
recent school shootings
The school shooting in Georgia two weeks ago was the latest of dozens of incidents across the US in recent years, including deadly shootings in Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, Newtown and Uvalde, Texas.
There have been at least 385 mass shootings in the US alone so far in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are shot. There are an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings per day in the United States.
