By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden and his Attorney General Merrick Garland will unveil a set of limited measures to tackle gun violence in the United States on Thursday in what the White House describes as a first step to curb mass shootings, community bloodshed and suicides.
Biden, a Democrat who has a long history of advocating for gun restrictions, has come under pressure to step up action after recent mass shootings in Colorado and Georgia.
But the measures he is unveiling do not meet all of his campaign promises and are not legislative. The White House says the president will continue to push for Congress to take more aggressive steps.
Biden, Garland and Vice President Kamala Harris are slated to make remarks at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden starting at 11:45 EDT.
The new measures include plans for the Justice Department to issue a proposed rule within 30 days to help to crack down on self-assembled “ghost guns,” and proposed rules within 60 days to make devices marketed as “stabilizing braces” that effectively turn pistols into rifles subject to registration.
Gun control is a divisive issue in the United States, which has experienced a significant number of deadly mass shootings at schools and other public venues for decades. The U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
