White House communications director Kate Bedingfield is insisting President Joe Biden acknowledges executive actions on guns are “not enough” to solve the problem.
During her appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday, Bedingfield discussed some of the executive actions Biden is expected to unveil to tackle the issue of gun violence, along with her call on Congress to act.
“These are all really important steps that he can take within his authority as president, but he would be the first to say this is not enough and Congress also needs to move forward, for example, on the bipartisan background check bills that are in front of them because the majority of the American people believe that we need sensible gun reform,” Bedingfield explained.
Watch her comments below:
Biden plans to announce executive actions on gun control aimed at taking certain guns out of the hands of criminals.
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) April 8, 2021
“He’d be the first to say this is not enough,” @WHCommsDir Kate Bedingfield says. “But…these kinds of regulations will help prevent shootings moving forward” pic.twitter.com/qG2L0Ub93X
Bedingfield noted one of the actions Biden would announce directs the Department of Justice to stop the proliferation of “ghost guns,” which are weapons that can be built “from a kit and are not traceable.”
Another executive action involves regulating “stabilizing braces,” devices that “make a pistol more stable… accurate.”
She mentioned an executive action that would establish a “model red flag law” which is a law that allows “guns to be more easily taken out of the hands of people who are in crisis.”
Biden is also expected to announce an investment in intervention programs for community violence, Bedingfield noted.
Touching on the possibility of shootings in the future, Bedingfield is confident “these kinds of rules, these kinds of regulations will help prevent” them.
Bedingfield called them “sensible” regulations that will ensure “that some of the… most dangerous guns that are out there won’t be as easy to get.”
The president is expected to announce his nomination of David Chipman to lead the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
A database compiled by the Violence Project found the United States has seen at least 29 shootings with four or more fatalities in the last five years.