Andrea Shalal, Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Gun safety advocates have been pushing President Joe Biden to adopt stronger anti-gun violence measures in his country after the Texas Elementary School shooting. But the White House would prefer Congress take more decisive action.

After Tuesday’s shooting rampage at Uvalde in Texas in which two teachers and 19 students died, the White House met with gun safety activists. This was nearly a decade ago.

Biden should issue an emergency declaration about gun violence. The group is also urging Biden, to name a gun violence chief, lift the Senate filibuster when necessary, and issue an executive ordering on background checks for gun purchases.

At the moment, President Biden is pressing Congress to adopt tighter gun legislation that have greater impact than executive action. For the moment, President Obama has spoken to top Democrats about next steps regarding firearms laws.

Democrat-backed legislation requiring background checks and banning semiautomatic rifles and strengthening gun safety has failed to pass Congress for a decade. This was despite strong Republican opposition as well as objections by some moderate Democrats, independents and others. Gun rights activists believe that the U.S. Constitution protects keeping and bearing weapons.

On Wednesday, Democrats in Congress stated that they will try to pass legislation again.

Chris Murphy stated, “The plan was to work hard for a compromise over the next 10 days.” “Hopefully we can succeed, and the Senate will vote on a bipartisan legislation that saves life.”

Salvador Ramos was the 18-year-old gunman who used his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle in the murders of students and teachers. Many gun safety activists demanded greater urgency from the White House.

David Hogg said that “President Biden does not do enough” Wednesday, as a survivor from the Parkland Florida high school massacre. “I’ve talked many times to the White House … and repeatedly we hear again and again: ‘Well … there’s X thing that comes up, there’s Y thing that comes up.'”

To answer questions on next steps, Michael Gwin of the White House stated, in an interview, that they are “continuing” to evaluate all options available to end gun violence. He stated that the president “has and will continue to press Congress for action.”

PUBLIC HEALTH URGENCY

Biden’s administration has made many steps since its January 2021 election. These include the requirement that ghost guns, which are commonly assembled from pre-assembled kits, must be controlled in the same manner as other firearms. They also launch a strike force to crack down on illicit firearms trafficking, including New York City and Los Angeles.

Gun safety advocates claim that there are more things the president can do on his own.

Kris Brown, President of Brady, a group that protects gun violence victims, said, “He should declare firearm violence a public emergency.” We must address this problem in a manner that stops violence occurring in the first place, and not ignore it just because guns are a public emergency.

The president can issue a national emergency declaration, which gives him additional legal powers to deal with a crisis. Biden, according to the White House has declared that it is an emergency. Therefore, a legal invocation of this would not grant authorities necessary to stop gun violence.

Brown suggested that Democrats lift the filibuster requirement, which required 60 votes to allow legislation to be passed in the Senate. Biden is a former U.S senator who has generally been reluctant to support such a change in order to pass his policy agenda.

Po Murray is the chair of the Newtown Action Alliance grassroots group. He said that the White House needed a gun violence prevention office. Murray explained that although we recognize that Susan Rice (domestic Policy Council director) is charged with this matter, we think we have to be able to spend all of our time working on it.

“Since the election of a gun safety president we could certainly do more,” she stated.

Peter Ambler (executive director of Giffords), a group that protects gun violence victims founded by Gabrielle Giffords in the U.S., stated that the White House should issue an executive order regarding background checks to prevent a bill from being passed.

This could allow for the imposition of a requirement that any person selling as little as 2 guns annually be licensed federally and undergo background checks.

He stated that the Biden administration should be able to combat gun violence through the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Ambler stated that gun violence protection must be a priority for the administration, and not only a political one.