President Joe Biden, alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, announced a new executive order on Thursday aimed at addressing the rising concerns over 3D printed and modified firearms, as well as enhancing active shooter drills in schools. The order, which President Biden signed during a White House ceremony, establishes a federal task force dedicated to evaluating the dangers of machine -gun conversion devices—reportedly 3D printable in under 30 minutes for less than 40 cents—and other 3D printed guns that evade detection by security scanners and lack traceable serial numbers, Reuters reports. Machine gun conversion devices are already illegal, but White House officials say law enforcement officials are seeing them show up at crime scenes because they are small, cheap and easy to install. Biden said one gun-conversion device, which enables handguns or other semi-automatic firearms to match or exceed the rate of fire of many military machine guns, was found on the scene of a mass shooting on Saturday in Alabama that killed four people.
Biden's order also directs federal agencies to develop and publish within 110 days information for U.S. schools, colleges and universities on how to create, implement, and evaluate evidence-informed active shooter drills. Most U.S. states require schools to conduct mass shooting drills, but some research has found them ineffective and traumatic to students. The new order is part of a broader push launched by Biden and Harris - both of whom are gun owners - to reduce gun violence and direct new resources to communities suffering from gun violence. Biden signed the first major gun legislation in decades in July 2022, which aimed to block gun sales to domestic abusers, among others. The U.S. surgeon general declared gun violence a public health crisis in June, calling for more research funding, better mental health access and other steps such as secure storage.
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