Credit: Unsplash

The President used executive action to move the effort along in lieu of a deadlocked Congress.

On Tuesday, in remembrance of the mass shooting event in Monterey Park, California, where 11 people lost their lives to an armed gunman, United States President Joe Biden utilized his position to push for greater background checks in the purchase of firearms.

Biden has been a fierce proponent of gun control, calling for a full ban on automatic assault weapon sales, but as Congress is currently Republican-controlled, the odds of such a ban passing are unlikely. As such, Biden has gone for a more realistic goal, calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to officially clarify the process of firearm sales. As all firearm salesmen must be federally-licensed, background checks are supposed to mandatory. It will be Garland’s job to ensure those who sell guns while skipping this step are brought into line.

“We remember and mourn today, but I’m here with you today to act,” Biden said at a Boys & Girls Club in Monterey Park, California. “It’s just common sense to check whether someone is a felon, a domestic abuser before they buy a gun.”

President Biden continues to call on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require background checks for all gun sales, and close the dating violence restraining order loophole. pic.twitter.com/GCLzIZi9wg

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 15, 2023

“I’m here on behalf of the American people to mourn with you, to pray with you, to let you know that you’re loved and not alone,” Biden said.

It is Biden’s hope that this order will get the country as close to a universal background check as possible without the use of official legislation.