President Biden is expected to sign new executive orders on gun violence prevention on Thursday aimed at cracking down on 3D-printed guns and improving active shooter training in the nation's schools.
The president and Vice President Harris are both scheduled to speak about the new order, marking their first joint event on gun violence prevention since Biden tapped Harris to oversee the newly created Office of Gun Violence Prevention a year ago.
The first part of the order focuses on new firearms threats, including machine gun conversion devices that turn handguns into semi-automatic rifles. Such devices are illegal but police are finding them at crime scenes.
Another threat is 3D printed guns that don't have serial numbers and can go undetected by metal detectors.
The order establishes a task force to address emerging firearm threats and directs it to submit a report within 90 days that will include an assessment of these firearm threats, the operational and legal capacity of federal agencies to detect and seize firearms, an interagency plan for combating firearms, and funding the Administration needs from Congress to crack down on firearms.
The second part of the order will address improving active shooter drills in schools, after Biden administration officials reported that schools have limited resources to know how to respond to the drills and that parents are concerned about the trauma they cause students.
The order directs the secretaries of Education and Homeland Security and other officials to develop and publish information within 110 days about active shooter training for schools to minimize trauma that could result from poorly conducted training.
Biden and Harris are also expected to announce additional executive actions on Thursday that could include promoting safe gun storage, increasing enforcement of red flag laws, funding community violence intervention and improving the background check system.
Harris is pushing for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks, both of which Biden has long sought, but such legislation would require Democratic supermajorities in both the House and the Senate to pass.
During his time in office, Biden has enacted rules to crack down on those who handle firearms.
President Trump signed a bipartisan gun control bill into law in 2022 that strengthens background checks for gun buyers between the ages of 18 and 21, makes it a federal crime to obtain a gun through false pretenses or trafficking, and clarifies the definition of a federally licensed firearms dealer.
