President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced new executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence on Thursday, capping off the afternoon with a press conference that praised the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts on the issue while criticizing Republicans’ responses.
“Guns are the number one – hard to believe – they’re the number one killer of children in America. More than any other cause – accidents – more than any other cause. It’s almost unbelievable – it’s sick,” Biden said on Thursday.
“Last year, after another school shooting, my predecessor said – like other members of Congress say – ‘Just get over it.’ I’m going to be very blunt, Secretary Vance from Ohio has called these shootings ‘facts of life.’ Who the hell do these people think they are?”
“Never was the Second Amendment meant to be absolute,” Biden said Thursday afternoon.
Aside from attacking Republicans, President Biden also spent so much time during Thursday’s press conference touting the work his administration has done to reduce violent crime overall.
“A year before we came to the presidency, we saw the biggest increase in murder rates on record. Last year we saw the largest decrease in murder rates nationwide,” Biden said. “In the first half of 2024, in large cities across the country, the homicide rate dropped another 17%. Last year we also saw the lowest rates of all violent crime in more than 50 years.”
The Thursday news conference coincided with the one-year anniversary of Biden’s groundbreaking Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which he lambasted Republicans for attempting to “defund.”
Before the Thursday afternoon press conference, the White House announced Biden’s plan to take new executive actions aimed at combating “emerging” firearms threats, such as unserialized “ghost guns,” which can be made using a 3-D printer, as well as improving how schools prepare for active shooter situations.
Biden stated that his new moves will create a task force to handle the issue of 3-D printed “ghost guns” and machine-gun conversion devices, which are firearm components that may convert a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon.
Biden added that the task committee will issue a “risk assessment” report within 90 days outlining “a strategy to address these emerging firearms threats.”
In addition, Biden has directed his Cabinet members to produce a report within 110 days that details “resources and information for schools to improve active shooter drills, minimize this harm, create age-appropriate content, and communicate with parents.”
“The lack of guidance today on how to prepare students while minimizing the trauma of active shooter drills is unacceptable,” Biden argued.
Meanwhile, Vice President Harris spoke at the Thursday event, reaffirming her support for a national assault weapons prohibition. Harris also advocated for universal background checks, safe storage legislation, red flag laws, and additional mental health counselors in schools.
Harris and Biden both criticized the gun lobby and weapons manufacturers, claiming they should be held accountable in specific cases of gun violence.
“If [Republicans] got their way, criminals could traffic guns and commit crimes,” Biden said Thursday.
“There’s an amendment to defund the office of gun violence prevention. Bless me Father, as we say in my church. They attack the FBI and want to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives … Folks, you can’t be pro-law enforcement and be anti-FBI and ATF.”
