Washington DC:

Weeks before his term as US President comes to an end, Joe Biden signed a new executive order today to address the problem of gun violence in the US.

“Join Vice President Kamala Harris and me as we deliver remarks on addressing the scourge of gun violence in America,” President Biden posted on social media website X.

“In order to end the problem of gun violence in America, we need to first talk about the problem of guns in America,” the President said, before he gave a sad and worrying statistic – that “The number one cause of deaths of children in America is gun violence – even more than disease or accidents.”

“It is sickening,” the President said.

Join @VP and me as we deliver remarks on addressing the scourge of gun violence in America. https://t.co/YFGOKtBV2Q

— President Biden (@POTUS) September 26, 2024

Earlier in the day, the President shared a post on his official X account stating that “Today, I’ll sign an Executive Order to crack down on emerging firearm threats like unserialized, 3D-printed guns and machine gun conversion devices.”

President Biden further said that the order will “Also direct my Cabinet to help improve school-based active shooter drills,” adding that “It is our job to do better.”

Data shows that the average number of civilian guns per 100 persons in America was 120.5 guns, which is more than double that of the next country on that list – Yemen (52.8 guns).

Today, I’ll sign an Executive Order to crack down on emerging firearm threats like unserialized, 3D-printed guns and machine gun conversion devices.

It’ll also direct my Cabinet to help improve school-based active shooter drills.

It’s our job to do better.

— President Biden (@POTUS) September 26, 2024

AMERICA’S GUN VIOLENCE PROBLEM

The United States has a serious gun violence problem, especially with an ever-increasing number of school and university shootings. According to a research conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year, child gun deaths in the US have hit record highs.

According to the data, 4,752 children died from gun-related injuries in 2021, the latest year for which data was available, up from 4,368 in 2020 and 3,390 in 2019. In fact, gun violence has been the number one cause of death for children in the United States since 2020.

The study further showed that Black children accounted for around 67% of firearm homicides while white children made up about 78% of gun-assisted suicides.

As recently as a fortnight ago, at least four people were killed in a school shooting in Georgia. The suspect, now arrested, turned out to be a 14-year-old.

The US has seen hundreds of shootings inside of schools and colleges in the past two decades, with the deadliest resulting in over 30 deaths at Virginia Tech in 2007. The carnage has sparked pitched debate over the US gun laws and the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which enshrines the right “to keep and bear arms.”

PRESIDENT BIDEN’S EXECUTIVE ORDER

In 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris was given charge of the department which looks into gun legislation. She was made responsible to help curb gun violence in America and to bring an end to the use of firearms in schools and other educational institutions.

Now, six weeks before the 2024 US Presidential election, President Biden has decided to bring in a legislation by Presidential Order – the highest authority in the US – to curb the menace of firearms and shootings at schools and colleges.

Under the order, the first part will focus on “emerging firearm threats”, including machine gun conversion devices – which turns a handheld gun or pistol into an automatic firearm or weapon. Such devices are already illegal, but since law enforcement agencies have found indiscriminate use of such equipment, the new legislation will ensure a crackdown on its availability.

The other threats that this legislation aims to tackle are unlicensed guns, or guns without serial numbers, that are 3D printed, which have a potential to go undetected even by scanners and metal detectors.

In the second part of the two-part Presidential order, Mr Biden has appealed to various departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State and even the Department of Education and other key departments involved to jointly draft Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs to ensure that there are regular drills in schools and vulnerable locations where similar incidents have occurred.

Under this order, the law enforcement authorities in the US will also have to check the sale of guns, ammunition, and other automatic and sub-automatic weapons.

More details of the the Presidential order will emerge once Mr Biden signs it and it is ratified.

AN APPEAL BEFORE THE ORDER

Earlier this month, President Biden called for a complete ban on assault weapons. “As a nation, we cannot continue to accept the carnage of gun violence,” he had said.

He had also urged the US Congress to take strong action for gun control in the country. President Biden even reached out to Republican lawmakers, saying some of its leaders should “finally say enough is enough”, adding that “We have to do something together. Let’s ban assault weapons.”

He had acknowledged that these steps “won’t bring back those children,” however, it would “help save lives if we do the things we’re talking about.” He further said, “We can do if we do it together…and I really think we can.”

President Biden also called for thorough  checks and balances over the sale of arms and ammunition, calling for detailed background checks. He also appealed to end the immunity for gun manufacturers as well as for parents who allow their children to have weapons to be held accountable.

RECENT SCHOOL SHOOTINGS

The school shooting in Georgia two weeks ago was the latest among dozens across the US in recent years, including deadly ones in Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, Newtown, and Uvalde, Texas.

So far, at least 385 mass shooting incidents have taken place in the US in 2024 alone, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which considers mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day in the United States of America.
 

U.S. President Joe Biden has dismissed concerns about his health and doubts about his re-election bid in November, brushing off a poor performance in the presidential debate as a “bad episode” and insisting that only “the Lord almighty” could persuade him to exit the race.

Mr. Biden, 81, said this on July 5 in a television interview, a week after his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta against his Republican rival Donald Trump, following which some of his own Democratic Party leaders started urging him to step down and his approval rating plummeted.

In the 22-minute high-stakes interview on ABC News aimed at quelling a burgeoning rebellion in the Democratic party, Mr. Biden, who is seeking a second term, said he had “a bad night” and he was “exhausted” and “sick” during his first presidential debate with Mr. Trump.

He asserted that only the “Lord Almighty” could make him drop out of the race to win the November 5 election.

He claimed that he is “running the world” and no one is “more qualified” to be President.

Asked whether he would be willing to have an independent cognitive evaluation and release the results to the American people, Mr. Biden said: “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world.”

The President said in the interview that he was “sick” before the debate. Asked whether it was a bad episode or a sign of a more serious condition, Mr. Biden dismissed those concerns.

“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night,” Mr. Biden said during his first interview after the debate, adding that his top party leadership are asking him to stay in the race.

“Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact the docs (doctors are) with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,” he said and reiterated multiple times that he was running for the presidency.

Blaming himself for the bad debate night in Atlanta, Mr. Biden said, “Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault but mine. I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit detail,” adding that Mr. Trump “lied 28 times” during the debate.

Mr. Biden said none of the major Democratic party leaders have asked him to drop out and asserted that he would withdraw only if the “Lord Almighty” asked him to.

“If the Lord Almighty came down and said ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. The Lord Almighty’s not coming down,” he added.

The President tried to avoid questions on both his mental fitness and cognitive tests.

“Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last seven months?” Mr. Biden was asked.

“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape,” he responded.

“Are you more frail?” he was asked. “No. Come keep my schedule,” he said.

Mr. Biden alleged that Mr. Trump is a pathological liar.

Asked by the interviewer whether he was being honest with himself about his ability to beat Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden said, “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.” He pointed to previous polls that showed he couldn’t win in 2020 as proof and subsequent down-ballot elections, denying extensive polling that reflects a race where he is trailing.

In a reaction to Biden’s interview, Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna, according to The New York Times, said he expected “complete transparency” from the White House and a willingness to answer “many legitimate questions” from the news media and voters about the president’s abilities.

“He has to earn that trust, and that requires more than one interview,” Khanna was quoted as saying by the daily.

ABC News said it offered a similar one-on-one interview to Trump, 78, but the former president declined.

Earlier during a rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin, Biden asserted that he is in the race and will win the election again.

“We had a little debate last week. Can’t say it was my best performance. But ever since then, there’s been a lot of speculation. What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do? Well, here’s my answer. I am running and going to win again,” Mr. Biden told his cheering supporters.

“…Some folks don’t seem to care who you voted for, well, guess what? They’re trying to push me out of the race. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can. I’m staying in the race. I’ll beat Donald Trump. I beat him in 2020. And by the way, we’re going to do it again in 2024.” Biden also took this opportunity to address the issue of his advancing age.

“You probably also noticed a lot of discussion about my age. I keep seeing all those stories about I’m being too old. Let me say something. I wasn’t too old to create over 15 million new jobs to make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act; to beat Big Pharma, the first firm to ever do that, and lower the cost of it to $35 a season,” he said.