President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Tuesday designed to increase background checks on a visit to a Los Angeles suburb that was the site of a mass shooting earlier this year.
A senior administration official said Biden plans to sign the order in Monterey Park, where 11 people were killed in January at a gathering for Lunar New Year celebrations.
The executive order would direct Attorney General Merrick Garland to clarify the legal definition of who is «involved in the business» of selling firearms, an authority the administration official said is spelled out in sweeping, bipartisan gun legislation that Biden signed it into law last year after the mass shooting. at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
“This news would mean fewer guns will be sold without background checks, and therefore fewer guns end up in the hands of criminals and domestic abusers,” the official said on a call with reporters who anticipated the order.
The National Instant Background Check System conducted more than 31 million background checks on people seeking to possess firearms or explosives last year, FBI data shows.
The administration official said it’s unclear how many new background checks the executive order would result in.
The order also urges members of the Biden Cabinet to promote the effective use of extreme risk protection orders, or «red flag» laws, in 19 states and Washington, DC, by partnering with law enforcement agencies, healthcare providers and educators.
Through the order, Biden will also encourage the Federal Trade Commission to compile a report examining how gun manufacturers market firearms, including to minors.
It seems unlikely that the newly divided Congress will tackle any more gun bills after it passed the sweeping, bipartisan bill last year. That measure provides grants to states for red flag laws, expands background checks to include criminal records of minors and closes the so-called boyfriend loophole by keeping guns away from unmarried couples convicted of abuse. In addition, it requires enhanced background checks for people ages 18-21 and funding for youth mental health services.
Biden signed the bill just two days after the Supreme Court struck down a law limiting concealed-carry permits.
Biden is also expected on Tuesday to reiterate his call for Congress to ban so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, a goal he was unable to achieve even when Democrats controlled both chambers.
Biden urged Congress to act in his State of the Union address last month, when he honored guest Brandon Tsay, who helped take down the Monterey Park suspect.
“We know our job is not done,” Biden said at the time. «Let’s finish the job and ban these assault weapons.»