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President Biden announces new gun regulation. Here’s what to know

President Joe Biden plans to take more steps to tackle gun violence

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President Joe Biden speaks in Washington.

President Joe Biden speaks during an event about the Affordable Care Act, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2022.

Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press

President Joe Biden announced new gun regulation Monday that aims to tackle the use of privately made weapons, per The Associated Press.

Driving the news: Biden declared the new rules from the Rose Garden on Monday.

  • There will now be a ban on “buy build shoot” kits, which people can buy online or at a store without a background check, per The Hill.
  • The kit helps people develop a gun in 30 minutes.

What he said: “If you buy a couch you have to assemble, it’s still a couch. If you order a package like this one over here that includes that parts that you need and directs the assembly of a functioning firearm, you bought a gun,” he said.

  • “It doesn’t take very long,” he said. “Anyone can order it in the mail.”

Flashback: Senior administration officials said Biden will announce regulations that will look to tackle “ghost guns” — which are unregulated and untraceable weapons that people can make from kits, according to CNN.

  • These “ghost guns” often don’t have serial numbers, making them harder to track.
  • The new regulation will require background checks before people can purchase the kits, and serial numbers may be needed on some of the parts, according to CNN.

The bigger picture: Biden has been facing pressure to act on gun control and regulations, especially after an increase in school shootings in 2022, according to The Associated Press.

  • The House has passed gun control legislation — like a background-check bill — but Senate Republicans are “near-unified against most proposals,” per The Associated Press.

What they’re saying: The Senate’s top Democrat, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, said over the weekend that he hopes the Biden administration moves faster on gun control measures, per CNBC.

  • “It’s high time for a ghost gun exorcism before the proliferation peaks, and before more people get hurt — or worse,” Schumer said, according to CNBC.
  • “My message is a simple one: No more waiting on these proposed federal rules.” Ghost guns are “too easy to build, too hard to trace and too dangerous to ignore.”