US President Joe Biden has issued an order targeting homemade guns, known as “ghost guns” because they are unregistered and untraceable.
“Gun violence in this country is an epidemic, and it’s an international embarrassment,” he said on Thursday.
The president is enacting new measures through an executive order, meaning he does not need approval from Congress.
It includes efforts to set rules for certain guns, bolster background checks and support local violence prevention.
However, the president will have an uphill task. The right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment to the US Constitution and many people see gun control laws as infringing on this constitutional right.
Hours after the president’s address, a gunman killed one person and injured five others at a cabinet-making shop in Bryan, Texas. A state trooper was also shot and injured while taking the suspect into custody.
On Wednesday, five people, including two young children, killed in South Carolina. The suspect has been named as former NFL player Phillip Adams.
This followed two mass shootings in March, which left a total of 18 people dead – one in Boulder, Colorado and the other in Atlanta, Georgia.
Source: Fiilafmonline/BBC
