Always remember, gun control is never far from a Democrat's mind:
US President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order that aims to increase the number of background checks conducted before firearm sales.
It aims to move the US "as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation".
Whenever a Democratic president can't move the needle on gun control in Congress, he just does it himself. Totally constitutional, y'all. Nothing to see here.
So what exactly is this executive order going to do? Well, according to the White House:
Increase the number of background checks by ensuring that all background checks required by law are conducted before firearm purchases, moving the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation. ... Specifically, the President is directing the Attorney General to move the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation by clarifying, as appropriate, the statutory definition of who is "engaged in the business" of dealing in firearms, as updated by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
So they'll just be cracking down on existing law? That's one way to do it.
Here, meanwhile, is another, slightly more, ah, foreboding approach:
Use the Department of Defense's acquisition of firearms to further firearm and public safety practices. The Department of Defense buys a large number of firearms and other weapons to protect and serve our country. The President is directing the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement principles to further firearm and public safety practices through Department of Defense acquisition of firearms, consistent with applicable law.
So they're going to take action on gun control by using the DoD's power to buy "large number[s] of firearms?"
The gun control lobby is naturally happy about this:
Kris Brown, president of the gun control non-profit Brady, wrote on Twitter: "While we still need urgent legislative action from Congress, [the president's] announcement today gets us closer to universal background checks than any other President that has come before."
