Biden to announce new executive order to curb gun violence

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden will announce a new executive order Tuesday to curb gun violence by increasing the number of background checks for arms sales among other actions.

The announcement will come as the president visits a predominantly Asian southern California city just outside of Los Angeles that was upended by a mass shooting earlier this year as revelers celebrated the Lunar New Year.

In all, 11 people died, many of them elderly, when a gunman entered a dance hall in Monterey Park on Jan. 22 and opened fire. The shooter, Huu Can Tran, 72, later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside his vehicle during a standoff with law enforcement.

The president's new order seeks to "keep more guns out of dangerous hands by increasing the effective use of 'red flag' laws, strengthen efforts to hold the gun industry accountable, and accelerate law enforcement efforts to identify and apprehend the shooters menacing our communities," the White House said in a statement.

It specifically will increase the number of background checks required for the purchase of a firearm to move the US as close as possible to universal background checks without new legislation from Congress, which is unlikely to pass such a law with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives.

The order will also increase the use of what are known as "red flag" laws, which help authorities to temporarily seize guns from an individual deemed to be dangerous and will clamp down on the number of firearms reported as lost during shipment from manufacturers to dealers.

That number has grown dramatically from 1,700 guns in 2018 to more than 6,100 in 2022, according to the White House.

Biden's action further directs his Cabinet to report on how the federal government can better assist communities affected by gun violence and asks the Federal Trade Commission to study and report on how gun manufacturers market firearms to minors.