UNITED STATES
Biden takes steps to regulate guns
On Tuesday, the US president announced that the backgrounds of people who want to buy a firearm will be examined in particular in more detail.
Published
Firearms are readily available in the United States.
Getty Images via AFP
Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a new round of regulatory measures meant to limit circulation of firearms, the scope of which will only be limited in the absence of a federal law, a very unlikely prospect at the present time. The American president must expose these measures later in the day, in Monterey Park (California), a locality bereaved at the beginning of the year by a shooting which made eleven victims in the Asian community.
The measures announced on Tuesday must, in particular, strengthen background checks for firearms purchases – even if the principle of universal verification can only be imposed by federal legislation, the White House said in a press release. .
Report Dangerous Individuals
The 80-year-old Democrat also wants to encourage the use of reporting (“red flag”) of potentially violent individuals, whom justice can then deprive of firearms, and deal with the explosion – + 250% between 2018 and 2022 – the number of weapons reported as “stolen” or “lost” while being transported between dealers.
Joe Biden also wants to step up the pressure on the powerful gun industry, flagging sellers who have violated federal rules. He also “encourages” the Federal Trade Agency, an independent body, to publish a report on the sale and promotion of firearms to minors.
An unlikely federal law
The American president knows, however, that he cannot do much in the face of the multiple shootings, of which only the bloodiest now give rise to media coverage. It is indeed the States which are competent in matters of purchase, ownership and carrying of firearms.
Only a federal law could be imposed on them, for example to ban assault rifles, as claimed by Joe Biden. That seems highly unlikely with one of the two houses of Congress now in the hands of Republicans, staunch supporters of the constitutional right to own a gun.
(AFP)