Sept. 26 (UPI) — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new executive order aiming to “reduce gun violence and save lives,” the White House said.
The order establishes the Emerginig Firearms Threats taskforce to advance efforts to stem the influx of machinegun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D printed firearms, it also directs federal agencies to improve school active shooter drills.
The White House said Thursday that the ATF between 2017 and 2021 recovered 5,454 of machine-gun conversion firearms, a 570% increase over the previous five-year period.
The order directs the task force to assess these emerging gun threats and issue a report in 90 days.
The task force will also assess the ability of federal agencies’ “operational and legal capacities to detect, intercept, and seize machine-gun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D-printed firearms; and an interagency plan for combatting these emerging threats.”
The White House effort to Improve school active shooter drills will seek to maximize their effectiveness while minimizing trauma to students.
“Despite the ubiquity of these drills, 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,” the White House said. “Many parents, students, and educators have expressed concerns about the trauma caused by some approaches to these drills.”
The order directs the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Surgeon General, to develop and publish, within 110 days, information for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education regarding school-based active shooter drills.
Federal departments and agencies will also take other actions on guns, including promoting safe gun storage and red flag laws that can help prevent gun violence.
Additional funding of $85 million from the Department of Justice’s Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative will assist 30 agencies and organizations to develop and also expand community violence intervention actions.
The White House said those actions will include hospital-based violence intervention, street outreach, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Total funding for these intervention efforts is $400 million.
The Biden administration is also working to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals by maximizing the use of enhanced background checks for people under 21 attempting to buy guns.
“But a number of states across the country have privacy laws that prevent state officials from fully responding to enhanced background check inquiries,” the White House said.
Biden believes system-wide improvements are needed to beef up collaboration among entities engaged with the federal gun background check system.
By Oct. 30 the Justice Department will “refresh and clarify best practices for federal law enforcement disposition of seized firearms, including when working in partnership with state and local law enforcement.”
The White House said when guns used in crimes are seized they and sent to third parties for destruction, sometimes they are only partially destroyed.
The Biden administration renewed its call Thursday for Congress to act on “commonsense gun safety legislation” like assault weapon and bump stock bans to universal background checks and repeal of gun manufacturer’s immunity from liability.
Biden also wants Congress to enact federal safe storage and red flag programs designed to remove guns when there’s evidence the owner is dangerous.