President Joe Biden’s press secretary seemed to confirm the worst fears of lawful gun owners all across America on Thursday.
With pressure building from the gun control lobby, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the president “would love to see action” soon, as Breitbart reported.
Psaki hints gun reform coming
Biden’s rise to the presidency has alarmed Second Amendment advocates while leaving the gun control lobbies thrilled, with the anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety bragging that the Biden administration will be a “nightmare” for gun owners, The Hill reported.
Despite issuing dozens of executive orders on climate change, immigration, and transgender rights, however, Biden has yet to take any action on guns.
NBC reporter Peter Alexander pressed Psaki on when Biden plans to address the issue at her Thursday press briefing. She gave a vague answer, but said that Biden supports existing efforts in the legislature.
“As vice president, and even before that, the president took on the NRA twice and won,” Psaki said, according to a White House transcript. “This is an issue he is personally committed to, many in this building are personally committed to. I think he would love to see action on additional gun safety measures to protect families and children.”
One bill that is being anxiously watched is Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s (D-TX) H.R. 127, which would require licensing and registration for all firearms and ammunition, psychiatric exams to own guns, and a ban on .50 caliber ammunition or greater, Breitbart reports.
Gun control lobby itching for response
On the campaign trail, then-candidate Biden described gun violence as a “public health epidemic” and vowed to seek bold regulations, including a so-called assault weapons ban, a ban on “high-capacity” magazines of more than 10 rounds, an end to all online weapons sales, and a repeal of legal liability protections against frivolous lawsuits for gun manufacturers.
Activist groups have urged Biden to take whatever executive action possible to enact gun controls, although more ambitious measures would have to pass a closely divided Congress.
So far, the president’s legislative agenda has focused on highly partisan bills for coronavirus relief and amnesty for illegal immigrants, reports note.
While gun control lobbyists have expressed impatience with Biden’s response, they anticipate future cooperation from the new president, and several have reportedly met with his staff at the White House since Jan. 20.
“I am confident of the values and the priorities of this administration,” Peter Ambler of the anti-gun group Giffords said, according to the Charlotte Observer. “And there is a governing agenda on gun safety and this administration gets it. This congress gets it. And we’re looking forward to partnering with them to get that implemented.”
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