In a first, Biden unveils limited gun control measures

US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced limited gun control reforms through six actions in the aftermath of three deadly mass shootings including the killing of Asian-Americans in Atlanta and shoppers at a grocery store in Colorado

US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced limited gun control reforms through six actions in the aftermath of three deadly mass shootings including the killing of Asian-Americans in Atlanta and shoppers at a grocery store in Colorado.

In this file photo, a customer looks at a custom made AR-15 style rifle at Davidson Defense in Orem, Utah. (AFP)

“Gun violence in this country is an epidemic. We say it again, gun violence in this country is an epidemic,” Biden said at a White House event to announce the executive actions, in the presence of survivors of gun violence and relatives of victims. “And it’s an international embarrassment,” he added.

The justice department will be required to propose a rule within the next 30 days to stop the proliferation of “ghost guns” that are bought in parts and can be assembled into a weapon within 30 minutes, according to one of the actions. The next will ask the justice department to announce a rule that will subject stabilisation braces that can turn pistols into mini rifles to the National Firearms Act, that are more stringent.

The justice department will also be required to publish a model “red flag” legislation for states that allows for a person to be denied access to firearms if petitioned by family members or police. The remaining two actions called for increased investment in evidence-based community violence intervention and the publication of an annual report on firearm trafficking, which has not been done since 2000.

These actions did not address the issue of assault rifles, which have been used most commonly in mass shootings.

The president is backing a legislation passed recently by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives that seeks to expand background checks for gun deals, covering transactions made on the internet, and closes certain loopholes in the current law. He called for the passage of the bill.

“Every day in this country 360 people are shot, every single day 106 of them die, every day,” Biden said, reeling off numbers. “Our flag was still flying at half-staff for the victims of the horrific murder, primarily Asian-American people in Georgia … 10 more lives were taken in a mass murder in Colorado.”

“You probably didn’t hear between those points in less than one week apart more than 850 additional shootings; 850, that took the lives of more than 250 people and left 500 injured. This is an epidemic, for God’s sake, and it has to stop.”