Biden taking action on gun violence
Mass shootings prod the president to use executive powers on ‘ghost’ firearms rather than rely on Congress.
WASHINGTON — President Biden, making his first foray into efforts to control gun violence since taking office, plans to announce Thursday an effort to limit so-called ghost guns — weapons sold without serial numbers or other identifying information — and to nominate a figure from a major gun control group to lead the federal agency that regulates firearms.
The executive actions come after two recent massacres and as some antiviolence activists have expressed disappointment in the administration for putting gun regulation behind other priorities such as the COVID-19 relief bill and Biden’s $2-trillion infrastructure proposal.
The administration’s moves, which Biden plans to announce at an event with Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, are relatively limited in scope, but mark a sharp shift in course from the Trump administration’s deference to the National Rifle Assn. and other gun rights groups and its opposition to expanding gun regulations.
A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters Wednesday noted that the moves are “an initial set of actions the administration is taking to address gun violence” and that further steps could come later. The official spoke under the condition that they not be identified by name.
The most concrete of Biden’s plans will be new rules aimed at ghost guns, made from kits that purchasers can assemble into weapons with relative ease. The kits are not classified as firearms, which means a person can buy them without a background check and they can be sold without the identification stamps required for guns.
The sales of such kits have grown rapidly in recent years, and ghost guns have increasingly been showing up at crime scenes. Law enforcement officials in California have estimated that roughly 3 in 10 guns recovered from crimes in the state are ghost weapons. In February, Los Angeles City Atty.
WASHINGTON — President Biden, anticipating intense negotiations with Congress over his infrastructure and jobs plan, said Wednesday he was willing to compromise but would not slow his push for one of the boldest and most expensive proposals in recent years.
He continued to press his case for the domestic initiative in global terms, saying autocratic leaders, particularly in China, were counting on the United States being too sluggish or divided to make the necessary investments in roads, bridges, electric grids and more.
“We can’t afford to prove them right,” Biden said from the White House complex. “We have to show the world — and much more importantly, we have to show ourselves — that democracy works, that we can come together on the big things.”
Biden wants to spend more than $2 trillion over eight years, which would be financed by higher corporate tax rates. With Republicans and some Democrats objecting, he said, “I’m willing to negotiate that.”
It’s likely the plan’s price tag will shift, and not just because of Republican opposition. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), a key swing vote, said this week that Biden’s proposed 28% tax rate on corporations was too high, and that he’d rather set it at 25%. The rate was 35% until former President Trump signed legislation slashing it to 21% in late 2017.
“As the bill exists today, it needs to be changed,” Manchin told a West Virginia radio host.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) said Monday that Democrats could sidestep a potential Republican filibuster by pushing the legislation through the reconciliation process, which can be used for budget-related issues as it was earlier this year when Congress approved Biden’s $1.9-trillion pandemic relief package. Even so, Democrats can’t afford to lose a single vote in their 50-member caucus.
Biden defended his proposal against GOP criticism that he was including too many provisions unrelated to infrastructure, with less than 6% of the spending slated for roads and bridges.
“The idea of infrastructure has always evolved to meet the aspirations of the American people and their needs,” he said. “And it’s evolving again today.”
The proposal includes making broadband internet access universal, replacing lead water pipes and building a network of charging stations for electric cars. It would also fund research and development and expand programs to care for people who are elderly or have disabilities.
The plan could potentially create millions of jobs in manufacturing, construction and related services.
Congress returns from its recess next week, and Biden wants a final deal passed this summer — an extremely ambitious timetable given the package’s scope and the political pitfalls.
“We’ll be listening. We’ll be open to good ideas and good-faith negotiation,” he said. “But here’s what we won’t be open to: We won’t be open to doing nothing. Inaction simply is not an option.”
‘The idea of infrastructure has always evolved to meet the aspirations of the American people and their needs.’ — PRESIDENT BIDEN, responding to GOP criticism