Biden Signs Executive Order Targeting New Gun Threats

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Thursday aimed at containing the growing threat of machine gun conversion devices and 3D-printed firearms.

The order creates the Emerging Firearms Threats Task Force and charges it with providing a report in three months to assess the threat posed by automatic weapons and 3D-printed guns, and with crafting an interagency plan to combat the problem.

“It’s our job to do better,” Biden wrote in a social media post.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has expressed concern over the rapid growth in the number of machine gun conversion devices it has recovered in recent years, as internet commerce and 3D printing have made it far easier to convert existing semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic ones.

The ATF confiscated nearly 5,500 conversion devices from 2017 to 2021, marking a 570% increase over the previous five-year period, according to the White House.

Machine guns were first restricted by the National Firearms Act of 1934. Federal law flatly bars civilians from owning machine guns produced after 1986, and classifies conversion devices as machine guns even if they are not physically attached to a weapon.

3D printing has posed a similar challenge for law enforcement. The rapid spread of the technology has allowed people to produce unserialized firearms in violation of federal law. The proliferation of these “ghost guns” has made it easier for prohibited people to obtain firearms, while thwarting law enforcement’s ability to trace firearms using a serial number.

The order also funnels federal money toward several other gun violence prevention programs.

The Justice Department will put $135 million toward state implementation of “red flag” laws