This year has been one of tragedy, marked by an excess in gun violence. Many recent years have experienced similar losses, but 2023 has proven itself to be the most devastating as it breaks the record for annual mass shootings. As of right now, there have been more than 400 mass shootings in the country.
Now more than ever, we need to take action against this horrible epidemic, and it seems like President Biden is ready to do so. There are two different actions against gun violence I would like to discuss in this article: restrictions on firearms dealers and a new Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Looking over the announcement, it is full of emotionally charged language from Biden and Harris that give reasons as to why they wanted to create the office, but no possible concrete goals.
In August of 2023, Biden altered the definition of being a firearms dealer and what they would have to go through in order to properly sell a gun. If someone sells guns for money, makes business cards or websites promoting their guns for sale, maintains records of income from selling guns or reserves a space at a gun show, they would be considered a firearms dealer. From there, they would have to apply for licensing in order to be an official firearms dealer and they would have to execute in-depth background checks of their clientele.
Reframing this definition would lead to more control over who gets to sell guns, ultimately causing less guns falling into the wrong hands. At least, that is the idea I have come up with from reading this information. However, aside from stating the basics of what a firearms dealer would be, few details were provided on how these dealers would be tracked. It might help limit who can sell guns, but it doesn’t offer much reassurance on how the government would find people illegally selling weapons.
The second update to gun violence prevention was the announcement of the White House’s new Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Announced on Sept. 21, this new office will be supervised by Vice President Kamala Harris. Policy advisor on gun violence prevention Stefanie Feldman will also be an important member of this new project as the director of the office.
While this is exciting as it is a potential step toward starting change, it is also proving to be vague. Looking over the announcement, it is full of emotionally charged language from Biden and Harris that give reasons as to why they wanted to create the office, but no possible concrete goals have been established. It seems the only information given is that the office now exists, but that’s it.
Although these steps have the right idea, they don’t seem to have enough groundwork to actually make a difference. I’m just left with questions as to why we still have military grade weapons on the streets for anyone to pick up and use to harm our population. Biden promises to keep pushing congress in the right direction, but I’ve felt like this promise has been repeated time and time again over his presidency.
pbortner@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @JoeBiden, X
