Biden signs executive order to tackle gun violence

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On Thursday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks before signing an executive order directing federal agencies to minimize the trauma of school shooter drills.

Most schools are currently using drills to prepare for an active shooter situation.

Despite the tedious process, senior White House officials say there is very limited research on how to design and deploy these drills to maximize their effectiveness and limit any collateral harms they may cause.

“We have a responsibility to protect the physical, mental, and emotional well being of our youth,“ said Gregory Jackson, the deputy director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention during an interview with WHYY.

Parents, students and educators have expressed concerns about the trauma caused by some approaches to these drills.

When asked how the office plans to minimize those drills, Jackson said, “We have to really think about is it really necessary to have fake blood? Is it really necessary to have gunshot sounds or actors in certain cases that are moving around with actual firearms at times.”

Jackson said they have to really assess if those types of exercises are critical to prepare our youth. Which is why they are pushing this executive order.

“We’ve seen and heard so many stories. But we don’t have enough research to prove what’s most impactful,” Jackson said. “So, we’re hoping to change that.”

The executive order will also tackle the emerging threat of firearms without serial numbers, 3D printed firearms, often referred to as “ghost guns,” and machine gun conversion kits.

“They are tools of choice for those who want to cause mass harm,” Jackson said.

To expand these efforts, Jackson said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives established an Emerging Threats Center, which focuses its resources on identifying illicit firearm marketplaces and their production, including the use of new technologies to make and distribute illegal undetectable firearms and devices.

“We need a federal response to make sure that we’re cracking down and we’re getting ahead as much as we can to these technological innovations to save lives,” Jackson said.