Home

US targets illegal gun 'death merchants'

Nandita Bose and Steve HollandAAP
US President Joe Biden's administration is targeting illegal gun merchants as homicide rates spike.
Camera IconUS President Joe Biden's administration is targeting illegal gun merchants as homicide rates spike. Credit: AP

US President Joe Biden has pledged to go after illegal gun dealers and boost federal funding and support for local law enforcement as homicide rates have spiked in large cities.

"Merchants of death are breaking the law for profit," Biden said on Wednesday, adding the administration will have "zero tolerance" for rogue firearms dealers and hold them accountable for violating federal laws.

He said the government also will help states employ more police officers using funds already approved to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"My message to you is this," Biden said, addressing gun dealers who "wilfully" break the law.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

"We will find you and we'll seek your license to sell guns. We'll make sure you can't sell death and mayhem on our streets."

The administration will strengthen efforts by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to stop illegal gun trafficking across states, Biden and Attorney-General Merrick Garland said at the White House, reiterating steps the Department of Justice unveiled Tuesday.

In April, Biden signed executive orders asking the DOJ to crack down on self-assembled "ghost guns". Such orders allow Biden to act quickly without waiting for Congress, where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority and Republicans generally oppose gun control legislation.

Gun rights, protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, are among the thorniest political issues in America, where the rate of gun deaths exceeds other wealthy countries.

In 2020 homicides in large US cities rose 30 per cent from a year earlier while gun assaults rose eight per cent with the fastest rate in big cities including Chicago and Houston, the White House said, citing a report by the nonpartisan research group the Council on Criminal Justice.

Overall the national rate is still far below the national average in the 1970s or 1980s.

The administration faces growing impatience from gun-safety activists that want Biden to act more quickly to combat gun violence after he campaigned on a pledge to act against the "epidemic" on the first day of his administration.

This year, 20,989 Americans died of gun violence through June 23, more than half through suicide, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a research group.

The Republican Party issued a statement saying Biden's Democratic administration "should have stood up to Democrats" who do not sufficiently support law enforcement.

US gun sales soared in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, amid social unrest over police killings of black people and a contested presidential election. At the time, some experts warned a spike in homicides could be next.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails