President Biden is signing a series of executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence. He says gun violence is a public health crisis and an epidemic that is an “international embarrassment.”
The moves follow last month’s deadly mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado. During a Rose Garden event, Biden called gun violence a public health crisis and an epidemic that is an “international embarrassment.” He added, “Enough!” Vice President Harris said she has seen the trauma of too many families who have lost loved ones to acts of gun violence. She asked, “What are we waiting for?” Harris said solutions can be found with the “will and the courage to act.”
Biden noted staggering economic impacts that are linked to gun violence in the U.S., including hospital bills and the costs of long-term follow-up care. Presidents are limited in what they can do on gun violence without broader action by the House and Senate. Senators will soon take up House-passed legislation expanding background checks, but it faces a rough road in the tightly-divided Senate. Biden said there is overwhelming public support for an expansion of background checks for purchases of firearms. The President also called for a ban on assault weapons, calling them weapons of war.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following statement applauding President Joe Biden for his executive orders to combat gun violence.
“I commend President Biden and his administration for taking action to address a problem in our country that has claimed far too many lives. The fact is this: a single life lost to gun violence is one too many and it is time for those in power to do something about it. From putting an end to the proliferation of ghost guns and their purchasers’ ability to circumvent common sense gun laws to model legislation that would work to keep these dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands, I am grateful to President Biden for taking significant steps to tackle our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
Upper Peninsula Rep. Jack Bergman issued the following statement:
“The Second Amendment is clear – the right of American citizens to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. This is true, no matter what the President, Department of Justice, bureaucrats, state leaders, or any other organization have to say about it. President Biden’s radical anti-gun agenda does not align with what the First District sent me to Washington to accomplish. The mandates being pushed out of the White House today go well beyond the authority of the President and bypass the Congressional debate and deliberation that form the bedrock of our republic.
“Additionally, H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446, which President Biden referred to today, offer no real solutions to violence across our Nation, and are both ill-conceived and short-sighted bills. Indefinitely delaying legal gun purchases, making lending a hunting rifle to a friend a crime, and appointing a radical gun-control lobbyist to head the ATF are in no way bipartisan or good-faith efforts to stop gun violence in our country. I will continue opposing any effort that infringes on our Second Amendment rights.”
Rep. Bergman has supported additional measures that were signed into law to help improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and promote school safety. He has also supported multiple pieces of legislation to protect Second Amendment rights, including the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would allow citizens that have a state-issued concealed carry permit to travel with their firearm across state lines without navigating through a patchwork of conflicting state law.
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