JOE BIDEN MAY TAKE EXECUTIVE ACTION TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE IN US

Wed 24 March 2021:

US President Joe Biden may take executive action to address gun violence in the United States along with his efforts to have congressional legislation on the matter, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday.

“I think he sees it vital to take steps on two tracks… Congressional legislation, as the Vice President [Kamala Harris] conveyed this morning, obviously has a more permanent, lasting impact. Executive actions are, of course, an important lever that every President has at their disposal,” Psaki said during a press briefing.

Psaki said the White House has held internal discussions and produced analysis of what possible steps can be taken to reduce gun violence.

“That has been ongoing for several weeks even before these two recent tragedies,” she said.

Psaki also said that Biden seeks to tackle the issue of gun access, including by introducing pre-purchase background checks as well as to address “root causes” of violence.

“What our focus is on is putting in place common sense measures that will make our community safer, make families safer, make kids safer. The majority of the American public supports background checks, the majority of the American public does not believe that anyone needs to have an assault weapon. So that’s really what our focus is on at this point of time,” she added.