A group of House Democrats has asked President Joe Biden to take executive action on “concealable assault-style firearms,” citing two mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado, last month.
“Concealable assault-style firearms that fire rifle rounds pose an unreasonable threat to our communities and should be fully regulated under the National Firearms Act consistent with the intent and history of the law. The recent tragedy in Boulder, Colorado where 10 people including a police officer were killed is one in a string of deadly incidents involving this style of weapon,” Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Val Demings (D-Fla.), and Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) said in a letter to Biden.
They said that because alleged Boulder gunman Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa used a semi-automatic Ruger AR-556 pistol, which is a smaller variant of an AR-15-style rifle, either Congress or Biden should take action.
The term “assault weapon” is considered controversial as the definition of what an “assault weapon” actually is has varied over the years. Some states and jurisdictions have bans on such a class of weapons but have different definitions.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week that Biden is considering using an executive order on some form of gun control. The Democrat-controlled House last month passed two gun background check measures.
“While that is moving, while there are discussions on that front—and the president will certainly be engaged in those—we are also continuing to review and consider what the options are for executive actions,” Psaki said Tuesday.
A separate group of House Democrats have called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to bring the two House background check measures to the Senate floor.
