Pratik Das, Pune
With just weeks left in his term as US President, Joe Biden signed a new executive order today to tackle gun violence in the country.
“Join Vice President Kamala Harris and me as we speak about stopping gun violence in America,” President Biden shared on the social media site X.
Earlier today, President Biden posted on his official X account saying, “I’m signing an Executive Order today to tackle new gun threats like 3D-printed guns and devices that turn guns into machine guns.”
The data shows that, on average, there are 120.5 guns for every 100 people in America. This is more than twice as many as the next country on the list, Yemen, which has 52.8 guns per 100 people.
The United States is facing a serious problem with gun violence, especially with more shootings happening in schools and universities. A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year showed that child deaths from guns have reached record highs.
The data shows that 4,752 children died from gun injuries in 2021, up from 4,368 in 2020 and 3,390 in 2019. Since 2020, gun violence has been the leading cause of death for children in the US.
In the last 20 years, there have been hundreds of shootings in US schools and colleges, with the worst one killing over 30 people at Virginia Tech in 2007. These shootings have led to heated debates about US gun laws and the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which gives people the right “to keep and bear arms.”
In 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris was put in charge of the department that handles gun laws. She was given the task of helping to reduce gun violence in the US and stop the use of guns in schools and other educational places.
The first part of the order will focus on new gun threats, like devices that can turn regular guns or pistols into automatic weapons. These devices are already illegal, but because they are being used more often, the new law will crack down on their availability.
Another problem this order will address is unlicensed, 3D-printed guns without serial numbers, which can sometimes avoid detection by scanners and metal detectors.
In the second part of the Presidential order, President Biden has asked departments like Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of Education, and others to work together to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). They will make sure that regular safety drills are held in schools and other places that have faced similar incidents.
He also urged Congress to take strong action on gun control. President Biden reached out to Republican lawmakers, telling them that some leaders should “finally say enough is enough.” He added, “We need to work together. Let’s ban assault weapons.”
He acknowledged that these actions “won’t bring back those children,” but they could “help save lives if we take these steps.” He added, “We can do this if we work together… and I really believe we can.”