Madrid, Spain.- The President of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a new executive order on arms control on Tuesday, which is intended to toughen purchase and sale requirements, strengthen collaboration between different departments and better monitoring and penalties for offenders.
This new order will increase the number of procedures to check the criminal records of those who intend to buy a weapon, as well as those who are engaged in its trade, reporting those who have broken the law. It also proposes more and better controls to safely store this type of arsenal.
It also orders federal agencies to promote and implement the laws known as “red flag”, already present in 19 states, with which the weapon could be withdrawn from a person considered dangerous, as well as to work to reduce the number of weapons that are lost and end up in the illegal trade.
“Every few days in the United States, we mourn a new shooting (…) We cannot accept these facts as an enduring reality of American life. Instead, we must insist that we have had enough and that we will no longer allow the interests of gun manufacturers take precedence over the safety of our children and the nation,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden will also ask his cabinet to jointly develop a plan to support communities that have been affected by armed violence, which so far in 2023 has already registered 110 episodes. This is the first time in a decade in which this type of shooting exceeds three figures when it is barely the first three months of the year.
Previously, the Biden Administration has already implemented other measures to control access to weapons and minimize risks in communities, creating new federal crimes in relation to trafficking and possession of this type of weapon. While the most radical measures, such as bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, background check requirements for all sales, need congressional endorsement.
