President Joe Biden announced new executive orders designed to reduce gun violence and save lives, including new direction for federal agencies to improve school-based active shooter drills and create a task force to investigate machine gun conversion devices and 3D-printed guns
“These simulations mimic real tragedies – like the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, where my sweet little Daniel was murdered in his first-grade classroom. They go far beyond drills, including shooting pellet guns at teachers and spreading fake blood. They don’t prevent gun violence; they traumatize students,” said Mark Barden, the father of one of the 20 children between six and seven years old, among 26 victims in the December 14, 2012, mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
“While I’m grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for taking much-needed steps toward a trauma-informed approach to active shooter drills, there is still more work that urgently needs to be done to protect the mental health and well-being of our children – who have grown up with the constant threat of school shootings,” said Barden.
After the Trump administration presided over the greatest one-year increase in murders ever recorded, Biden took action to reduce violent crime as soon as he got the the White House but the new actions announced Thursday touch on a range of gun-related issues.
The executive order directs Biden administration officials to publish information for K-12 schools and higher education institutions, including resources on how to create, implement and evaluate “evidence-informed active shooter drills,” according to a White House fact sheet.
The information should also include how to conduct effective and age-appropriate drills, and how to best communicate with families and students about the exercises, the White House fact sheet said.
Biden directed Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to develop the information, in coordination with other administration officials, according to the fact sheet.
Many schools are utilizing drills in their preparation for an active shooter event, but there is “very limited research” into how to design the exercises “to maximize their effectiveness and limit any collateral harms they might cause,” the fact sheet said.
“Many parents, students, and educators have expressed concerns about the trauma caused by some approaches to these drills,” the fact sheet said. “Federal agencies need to help schools improve drills so they can more effectively prepare for an active shooter situation while also preventing or minimizing any trauma.”
The executive order also establishes a task force on emerging firearm threats, directing it to produce a report that assesses the dangers posed by machine gun conversion devices and 3D-printed firearms that do not have a serial number, according to the fact sheet.
Biden has taken a series of executive actions to combat American gun violence as Congress remains fiercely divided on firearm regulations, with Democrats pushing for stronger restrictions while Republicans raise objections on Second Amendment grounds.
The Biden administration on Thursday reiterated their calls for Congress to take further action, saying in the fact sheet that Congress should enact “commonsense gun safety legislation,” such as passing a ban on bump stocks and assault weapons.
The task force created by the executive order is poised to look at machine gun conversion devices, a topic that’s received attention from the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
One top Justice Department official earlier this month said the devices convert handguns and rifles into machine guns, describing them as “highly dangerous.”
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, in a speech, said the devices are often a small piece of plastic or metal that “can convert a run-of-the-mill firearm into a weapon of war.”