Six New Biden-Harris Administration Actions Address Surging Gun Violence in U.S. while Skirting Direct Hit on Gun Sales, Avoiding Second Amendment Clash

President Joe Biden speaks about gun violence prevention in the Rose Garden at the White House, Thursday, April 8, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik via WTTW) Photo Source: President Joe Biden speaks about gun violence prevention in the Rose Garden at the White House, Thursday, April 8, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik via WTTW)

The Biden-Harris Administration is launching six new "initial actions" to address the surging gun violence public health epidemic in the United States. The new plan states it will tackle "actions to reduce all forms of gun violence – community violence, mass shootings, domestic violence, and suicide by firearm."

The new actions avoid a direct hit upon Americans' ability to possess guns and handily avoid a clash with the Second Amendment right of Americans to bear arms.

However, the initiative offers clever and legal methods to stem gun violence by addressing online sales, build-your-own-gun kits, and accessories that allow violent mass murderers to shoot many victims quickly. In this action, the bullet for new legislation does not fire straight yet hits its mark in new ways of stemming gun violence without overstepping the constitution.

Mass shootings in the U.S. have steadily impacted towns across the nation, leaving a legacy of death, fear, and grief in their wake.

Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit group that tracks gun violence in the U.S., reports "104 mass shootings have occurred in 29 states plus Washington, D.C. in 2021" to date. Mass shootings are defined as the shooting of four or more persons killed in a single incident but do not include the shooter or shooters.

The new Biden-Harris plan considers gun violence an epidemic that has repercussions in every part of the country but impacts people of color who are, as they state in their plan, "in the midst of a historic spike in homicides, violence that disproportionately impacts Black and brown Americans."

Biden is not the first president to travel the slippery slope of gun violence versus the Second Amendment, which enshrines for Americans the right to carry firearms. The fine line between gun laws and the constitutional right to bear firearms continues to offer profound challenges to new gun law legislation.

Some of the Biden Administration's creative ways to beef up gun laws include indirect laws that would impede specific types of violent usage by anyone with guns. The new gun laws initiative now crosses over to include the verbiage of addressing a public health epidemic, which positions the expansion of gun control plans while remaining within the constitution's legal confines. As the plan states, these actions "will not wait for Congress."

Part of the initiative states, "This Administration will not wait for Congress to act to take its own steps – fully within the Administration's authority and the Second Amendment – to save lives."

Here are the Biden-Harris Administration's six initial actions.

· Stop Ghost Guns. The Justice Department must issue a rule to halt Ghost Guns' sales and usage within 30 days. Ghost Guns are kits created to offer users the ability to build a firearm in about thirty minutes. They are untraceable since they do not have a serial number.

· Stop Stabilizing Braces. The Justice Department must issue within 60 days a rule regarding any device marketed as a "stabilizing brace," which turns a pistol into a "short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act." A stabilizing brace was used in the mass shooting in the Colorado supermarket last month that killed ten people, including a police officer.

· Launch Red Flag Legislation. The Justice Department must publish within 60 days new "red flag" legislation for all states. The Red Flag laws will allow family members, citizens, or law enforcement to "petition for a temporary court order to bar people in crisis from accessing firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others.

· Federal Investing in Community-Based Violence Interventions. This action plans for federal investing in evidence-based community violence interventions. As noted, "Community violence interventions are proven strategies for reducing gun violence in urban communities through tools other than incarceration. Because cities across the country are experiencing a historic spike in homicides, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking a number of steps to prioritize investment in community violence interventions."

· The Justice Department to issue a new, modernized annual report on firearms trafficking. This action by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) has been ongoing since 2002. But times have changed, and the new Biden plan calls for a modernized report that still offers information "regarding its investigations into firearms trafficking, which is one way firearms are diverted into the illegal market where they can easily end up in the hands of dangerous individuals." Now, the report will include online sales, Ghost guns, and any new trafficking updates.

· For the first time since 2015, the ATF will have a director. The President nominates David Chipman to serve as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. ATF has not had a confirmed director since 2015. Chipman served at ATF for 25 years and now works to advance commonsense gun safety laws.

The new plan does not attempt to ban the use of firearms by Americans. However, it will stop the easy proliferation of homemade guns, the sales of accessories that allow mass shooters the ability to brace themselves for faster and more accurate shooting, and much more.

Called an "initial plan," this Biden-Harris action launches a modern way to address some of the U.S. mass shootings spikes. The date for the announcement of a second plan has not yet been announced.

Diane Lilli
Diane Lilli
Diane Lilli is an award-winning Journalist, Editor, and Author with over 18 years of experience contributing to New Jersey news outlets, both in print and online. Notably, she played a pivotal role in launching the first daily digital newspaper, Jersey Tomato Press, in 2005. Her work has been featured in various newspapers, journals, magazines, and literary publications across the nation. Diane is the proud recipient of the Shirley Chisholm Journalism Award.
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