A new executive order by President Joe Biden will seek to prevent mass shootings in schools or public spaces by preventing perpetrators from having access to devices that facilitate continuous shooting.
The measure will also seek to increase control of firearms without serial numbers that were printed in 3D, for which a working group focused on reducing gun violence will be formed, revealed a document distributed by the White House.
“The initial directive in this executive order to the task force is to focus on two key emerging firearms threats: the first is machine gun conversion devices, and the second is 3D printed firearms without serial numbers,” a Biden administration official said at a news conference.
He added that the police forces have expressed these two main concerns, which is why they sought to address these issues.
“The reason we are focusing on both is that they are the top concerns that law enforcement raises for us,” he said. “The working group will continue and be able to address additional and operational firearms threats and technologies that pose a challenge to law enforcement.”
He added that this effort is in addition to actions against so-called “ghost weapons,” that is, those that are armed with different devices and are difficult to trace.
“The Administration has taken steps to ban the manufacture of ghost gun kits,” she added. “The Department of Commerce has taken steps to strengthen regulation of the code that can be used to print firearms.”
There have been 404 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an organization that tracks such incidents.
In these attacks, 182 children have died, while 420 have been injured; in addition, 867 adolescents have also died and 2,415 have been injured.
“The new executive order directs federal agencies to enhance active shooter drills in schools and combat emerging threats from machine gun conversion devices,” the document states.
In April 2021, ATF established an Emerging Threats Center to identify developments in illicit firearms markets.
“[Eso incluye el rastreo] of new technologies to illegally manufacture and distribute undetectable firearms and devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into illegal machine guns,” it states.
The ATF says machine gun conversion kits are often illegally imported or manufactured on a 3D printer because they cost $40 and take less than 30 minutes to print.
In addition to enhancing school shooting drills, the new executive order directs the Task Force to issue a report within 90 days.
“[El reporte debe incluir] “an assessment of the threat posed by non-serialized 3D-printed firearms and machine gun conversion devices; an assessment of federal agencies’ operational and legal capabilities to detect, intercept, and seize non-serialized 3D-printed firearms and machine gun conversion devices; and an interagency plan to combat these emerging threats,” it said. “The report will include any additional authority or funding that federal agencies need from Congress to complete this work.”
More agencies involved
The official added that other agencies will also take additional actions, which will be announced shortly.
That includes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“[Sobre CDC] We look forward to making announcements on how to address the trauma resulting from gun violence, launching new resources to help communities and individuals recover from gun violence they, their family or the community have experienced,” she added.
These efforts are part of the Safe Communities Act, passed in 2022.