President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a new executive order to reduce gun violence in the United States, which data shows disproportionately impacts Black communities.
The order is the latest White House effort to mitigate the nation’s gun problem, which has reached fever-pitch level. In 2023, so far, there have been more than 100 mass shootings in America, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Biden’s executive actions include measures to increase the number of background checks, spread awareness and improve the use of red flag laws and address the loss and theft of firearms during shipping.
The executive order also seeks to hold gun manufacturers and sellers more accountable for their part in guns getting into the hands of bad actors — including the marketing of firearms to minors.
“I’m here today to act,” Biden said during remarks in Monterey Park, California, where 11 people were killed and nine others injured in January in a mass shooting at a ballroom. The president said his executive order is intended to “accelerate and intensify this work to save more lives more quickly.”
Gun violence prevention advocates applaud Biden’s latest actions to address the nation’s gun epidemic.
Gregory Jackson, executive director of Community Justice Action Fund (CJAF), an advocacy group committed to reducing gun violence in Black and brown communities, told theGrio the president’s executive order is a “comprehensive approach that holds the gun industry, the gun dealers and traffickers accountable with the same level of emphasis that we’ve seen America hold perpetrators or individuals accountable.”
Jackson, a victim of gun violence, argued that the true solution to reducing firearms violence in the United States — particularly in Black communities — is addressing it as a public health matter, not simply a crime issue. “The biggest indicator of gun violence in our…
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