Joe Biden Goes Around Congress, Directs AG Garland to Pursue Universal Background Checks

During a Tuesday gun control announcement, President Joe Biden asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to act where Congress has not and take the U.S. “as close as possible” to universal background checks.

The Guardian reported that Biden continues to call on Congress to pass universal background check legislation but noted that he is not waiting on Congress. Rather, his executive order directs the AG “to take every lawful action possible to move us as close as we can to universal background checks without legislation.”

NPR noted Biden saying his executive order promotes “the safe storage of firearms” and “expands public awareness campaigns” regarding red flag laws, which can be used to have firearms seized from a gun owner.

Biden also said his order “[calls] for an independent government study that analyzes and exposes how gun manufacturers aggressively market firearms to civilians, especially minors.”

He used the speech to renew his call for a ban on “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines.

Ironically, Biden gave his gun control speech in Monterey Park, California. He did not mention that California already has every gun control measure he is pushing nationally, yet the FBI identified California as the number one state for “active shooter incidents” in 2021.

Moreover, CNN reported that California had four mass shootings during one week in January 2023.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.