President
Trump, in an executive action issued Friday, directed Attorney General
That order includes actions taken by agencies during Biden’s tenure that Trump says claim “to promote safety,” but may have infringed on Americans’ gun-ownership rights.
It also touches on how agencies classified firearms and ammunition, any positions taken by the US in ongoing or potential court cases on the issue, efforts to step up regulatory enforcement of gun laws and the processing of applications to make, manufacture, transfer or export firearms.
Trump’s order follows a campaign in which he pledged to advance the priorities of gun-rights groups and undo “every single Biden attack on gun owners and manufacturers.”
Biden signed the first major federal gun safety measure in three decades — the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — and according to his own White House, pursued more executive actions tied to reducing gun violence than any other administration. Biden urged lawmakers repeatedly to pass additional legislation to address gun violence but those efforts were stymied by Republican control of the US House.
His actions included moving to close loopholes that allowed gun buyers to avoid background checks at gun shows and measures to better address threats from 3D-printed guns.
The
Trump, though, has in the past at times split from gun-rights supporters, most notably when his first administration imposed a ban on bump stocks. He also floated tougher background checks and raising the minimum age for gun owners to 21, before later dropping those stances.
Biden also established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a first-of-its kind effort to marshal a federal response to mass shootings. The Firearm Industry Trade Association has pressed Trump to disband the office. In Friday’s directive, Trump requested a review of “reports and related documents” produced by the office.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022, came after back-to-back mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The US was ranked No. 1 for gun deaths amongst high-income nations with populations over 10 million in 2021, according to the Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, helped found and is a current supporter of Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates gun-safety measures.
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Meghashyam Mali
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