Biden plans first executive actions against guns

President Joe Biden on Thursday will unveil his administration's first steps to curb gun violence, including a plan to reduce the proliferation of "ghost guns," after a slew of mass shootings have put pressure on him to act.

Bryan Wood reports.

U.S. President Joe Biden will unveil his first plan to curb gun violence on Thursday, after a slew of mass shootings put pressure on him to act.

A White House official told reporters that Biden will give the Justice Department 30 days to propose ways to reduce the number of so-called “ghost-guns." Those are guns that are untraceable and self-assembled.

In the next 60 days, the DOJ also be asked to propose limits on “stabilizing braces,” which effectively turn pistols into rifles.

The official added that other measures include investment in community violence prevention, compiling a report on arms trafficking, and drafting “red flag laws,” which allow local law enforcement to remove guns from people considered dangerous.

The Biden administration has been working for months to craft gun control that would not be quickly dismantled in the courts.

However, the recent mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado have put pressure on the White House to act on its own, as legislation would not pass swiftly in Congress.

The top Republican in the House, Kevin McCarthy, has already responded tweeting, "President Biden plans to announce his attempts to trample over our constitutional 2A rights by executive fiat.

He is soft on crime, but infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens." The new list of measures leave out a number of Biden campaign promises, including banning assault weapons and requiring background checks for most gun sales.

He also promised to take unilateral action on the issue within his first 100 days as President, or by the end of this month.