Biden Announcing Actions to Address Gun Violence

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland are scheduled to speak Thursday about a set of new measures meant to address gun violence in the United States.

Ahead of their remarks, the White House released details of some of the initiatives, calling gun violence a “public health epidemic.” One action is a proposed rule from the Justice Department to stop the proliferation of so-called “ghost guns” that lack serial numbers and are difficult for law enforcement to trace when they are used in crimes. The Justice Department is also planning to issue a model of what are known as “red flag” laws that give family members and law enforcement the ability to petition a court to temporarily restrict someone deemed to be a danger to themselves or someone else from accessing guns.  The model is intended to give individual states a starting point for enacting their own laws.