BY MICHAEL FRANCO

With the recent shootings that have happened over the past few weeks, President Joe Biden and his administration have said that they want to enact stricter gun laws. Biden has called on the Senate to ban assault weapons and close the holes in background checks. Republicans are opposing that law, saying that there should be more policing instead of limiting gun laws.

House Democrats passed two bills in March that aim at expanding and strengthening background checks by giving the F.B.I. more time to flag the person. The House also voted to approve a legislation that will lengthen the review period for background checks from three days up to 20. The Democrats need 60 votes to be able to advance the bills, but do not yet have them. Texas Republicans have responded with what they call “Constitutional Carry” which would not require someone to have a permit to carry a weapon.

On April 7, the Biden-Harris administration announced six initial actions to address the gun violence that happened last month. These actions include: stopping the proliferation of “ghost guns,” making it clear when a device is used as a stabilizing brace,  publishing model “red flag” legislation for states, investigating community violence interventions, issuing an annual report of firearms trafficking, and will nominate David Chipman to serve as Director of ATF. Biden wants to eliminate “ghost guns,” which are guns that are untraceable that people can purchase parts for and make at  home, they don’t have any serial numbers and a person doesn’t have to undergo any background checks to purchase the parts. All of these plans are an effort by the Biden administration to stamp out mass shootings and reduce the amount of gun violence in America.

The debate over gun reform has raged in Congress many times before, but passing any type of legislation has proven tricky with many proposed bills stuffed with riders having little to do with gun control. We’ll see if this time will produce any different results.