JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden pledged on Wednesday to pursue illegal gun dealers, increase federal funding and support for law enforcement as homicides surge in major cities.
"Death traffickers break the law for profit. The government will not be responsible for rogue firearms dealers responsible for violating federal laws," said President Joe Biden as quoted by Reuters on Thursday, June 24.
President Biden further explained that the government will also help states hire more police officers, using the approved funds to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"My message to you, we will hunt you down and find you, take your 'license', make sure you can't sell death and chaos on our streets," Biden said.
Accompanied by Attorney General Merrick Garland, President Biden said the government would strengthen the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) efforts to stop the illegal arms trade across the state.
In April, Biden signed an executive order asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to crack down on self-assembled “ghost weapons.” Such an order allows Biden to act quickly without waiting for Congress, where Democrats hold a slim majority and Republicans generally oppose gun control and restriction plans.
Gun rights, protected by the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, are one of the most difficult political issues in America, where gun death rates exceed that of other wealthy nations.
In 2020, homicides in major US cities were up 30 percent from a year earlier, while armed attacks were up 8 percent at the fastest rate in major cities, including Chicago and Houston, the White House said, citing a report by the nonpartisan research group the Council. Criminal Justice.
Nevertheless, the overall national figure is still far below the national average in the 1970s or 1980s.
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To note, this year, 20,989 Americans died from gun violence as of June 23, more than half by suicide, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a research group.
Gun sales in the US surged in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, amid social unrest over police killings of black people and the presidential election.
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