President Joe Biden is creating a federal task force to target “emerging firearms threats,” including cheap devices that can convert commonly owned semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic machine guns.
The executive order, signed by Biden during an event on September 26, also seeks to crack down on 3D-printed guns and improve school active shooter drills. It likely marks one of the last gun violence initiatives of his presidency, with a little more than a month to go before the 2024 election and four months before the inauguration of his successor.
“The streets are flooded with machine gun conversion devices because the parts are small, cheap, and easy to make. The impact of these devices is devastating,” Biden said. “It’s about sending a clear message to local law enforcement, and cities across the country, that we’re here to help, and together we can save lives.”
The new Emerging Firearms Threats Task Force — composed of leaders from several federal departments and agencies — will be responsible for developing a plan to combat machine gun conversion devices. The devices, also known as Glock switches, auto sears, or trigger activators, have been showing up at crime scenes in increasing numbers.
One recent example was in Birmingham, Alabama, where four people were killed and 17 injured in a mass shooting on September 21. Law enforcement recovered more than 100 shell casings and believe machine gun conversion devices were used. While the devices are illegal on the federal level, Alabama and some other states do not have state-level bans, leaving local law enforcement with few tools to arrest and prosecute people caught with the devices.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin was among dozens of gun violence prevention advocates, law enforcement officials, and others who attended the September 26 signing ceremony.
“We’ve been working with our U.S. attorney, with the Justice Department, to get machine gun conversions like Glock switches off our city streets,” Woodfin said. “But still, my community, and I imagine other communities, are still finding the use of these devices at crime scene after crime scene.”
The ceremony marked the first time that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic nominee for president, have appeared together at a gun violence-focused event since Biden placed Harris in charge of the new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention one year ago.
“For as much as we have accomplished, more must be done,” Harris said. “We need more leaders like the leaders in this room, in Congress, who have the courage to take action, to stand up to the gun lobby, and to put the lives of our children first.”
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The task force has 90 days to issue a report, which will also include an assessment of the threat posed by 3D-printed firearms. The work may build on the administration’s previous efforts to combat “ghost guns.”
3D-printed firearms are typically produced at home with computer code downloaded from the internet. They often lack a serial number, meaning they cannot be traced by law enforcement if recovered in a criminal investigation.
3D-printed firearms are less common than other types of ghost guns, but Stefanie Feldman, the director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, said they pose a unique threat.
“Some 3D-printed firearms can be made to be undetectable by magnetometers used to secure airports, courthouses and event spaces — even though these undetectable firearms are illegal to make, sell, or possess under federal law,” Feldman said.
A 2021 Department of Justice audit raised concerns about the online availability of blueprints for 3D-printed guns that could go undetected by standard security measures. This year, Congress reauthorized a federal law that requires every firearm to have at least enough metal to set off X-ray machines and metal detectors.
A second provision of Biden’s executive order aims to improve school-based active shooter drills, which have come under increasing scrutiny as parents, students, and educators say that some versions of the drills are traumatic.
The president directed the surgeon general and the departments of Education and Justice, among others, to develop and publish information for schools to improve the drills while minimizing any collateral mental health effects.
Several other federal agencies are moving to improve data on gun violence and gun trafficking, and support victims of gun violence. Officials also announced plans to improve implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun safety law in 30 years, which Biden signed in June 2022.
The Biden administration has previously taken action to expand background checks on gun sales, increase funding for community violence intervention programs, and promote safer firearm storage, among other efforts.
“The Biden-Harris administration has been the strongest gun violence prevention administration in history,” Christian Heyne, the president of the gun violence prevention group Brady, said in a statement regarding the new executive orders, “and today’s news tells us they have no intention of slowing down.”