President Joe Biden displays pieces of a 9mm pistol at an event announcing new rules to regulate 'ghost guns', unserialised home-made weapons that are difficult for police to track. AP
President Joe Biden displays pieces of a 9mm pistol at an event announcing new rules to regulate 'ghost guns', unserialised home-made weapons that are difficult for police to track. AP
President Joe Biden displays pieces of a 9mm pistol at an event announcing new rules to regulate 'ghost guns', unserialised home-made weapons that are difficult for police to track. AP
President Joe Biden displays pieces of a 9mm pistol at an event announcing new rules to regulate 'ghost guns', unserialised home-made weapons that are difficult for police to track. AP

Joe Biden clamps down on elusive 'ghost guns' to curb US firearms violence


Kyle Fitzgerald
  • English
  • Arabic

President Joe Biden on Monday announced a series of measures to crack down on "ghost guns" in his latest effort to curb firearms violence in the US, once again calling on Congress to pass stricter gun laws.

"Law enforcement is sounding the alarm. Our communities are paying the price," Mr Biden said at a White House event attended by survivors of gun violence and families of victims, including those from Sandy Hook.

Mr Biden briefly held up a pieces of a gun from a "build buy shoot" kit, noting how easy it is to construct an unserialised and hard-to-trace weapon.

Police last year reported 20,000 ghost guns to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as having been recovered from criminal investigations.

The home-made gun is "the weapons of choice for many criminals", Mr Biden said.

"We're going to do everything we can to deprive them of that choice. And when we find then, put them in jail for a long, long time," he said.

Mr Biden has repeatedly pushed for more strict federal gun laws. In his latest budget proposal, cities would receive more funding for crime prevention and intervention.

The president at the event once again called on lawmakers to pass universal background checks, ban assault-style and high-capacity magazines, and to eliminate gun manufacturers' liability.

But Congress has been deadlocked on gun laws for years, and Mr Biden faces an uphill battle in getting meaningful legislation passed as Capitol Hill remains well divided over the issue.

In 2020, the most recent year statistics are available, guns killed more than 45,000 people in the US. About 54 per cent of these deaths were suicides and 43 per cent were homicides.

A 9mm pistol build kit is displayed during a event to combat gun crime in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP
A 9mm pistol build kit is displayed during a event to combat gun crime in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP

The new rule will require licensed dealers to convert ghost guns already in circulation into serialised firearms, regardless if that weapon was made from individual parts, a kit or a 3D printer.

"All of a sudden, it's no longer ghost. It has a return address," Mr Biden said.

The sale of "buy build shoot" kits, which people can buy without a background check and use to assemble a firearm within 30 minutes, will be banned.

The legislation will also update the definitions of "frame" and "receiver" so that dealers selling these kits must become federally licensed and run a background check before any sale.

The rule requires dealers to retain records for as long as they are in business, expanding on the 20-year limit. More than 1,300 firearms in the US are untraceable every year because the dealer destroyed the records that were more than 20 years old, the White House said.

In an opinion piece published by USA Today, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the new laws will save lives and help officials solve cases.

"These changes will make it harder for criminals and other prohibited persons to get their hands on untraceable guns. They will help ensure that law enforcement officers can get the information they need to solve crimes," Mr Garland said.

"These changes are long overdue."

Mr Biden on Monday also nominated former US attorney Steve Dettelbach to head the ATF, which is responsible for enforcing the federal government's gun laws.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Premier Futsal 2017 Finals

Al Wasl Football Club; six teams, five-a-side

Delhi Dragons: Ronaldinho
Bengaluru Royals: Paul Scholes
Mumbai Warriors: Ryan Giggs
Chennai Ginghams: Hernan Crespo
Telugu Tigers: Deco
Kerala Cobras: Michel Salgado

Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

HOSTS

T20 WORLD CUP 

2024: US and West Indies; 2026: India and Sri Lanka; 2028: Australia and New Zealand; 2030: England, Ireland and Scotland 

ODI WORLD CUP 

2027: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 2031: India and
Bangladesh 

CHAMPIONS TROPHY 

2025: Pakistan; 2029: India  

The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5 

Company profile

Name: Thndr

Started: October 2020

Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: FinTech

Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000

Funding stage: series A; $20 million

Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC,  Rabacap and MSA Capital

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Mountain Classification Tour de France after Stage 8 on Saturday: 

  • 1. Lilian Calmejane (France / Direct Energie) 11
  • 2. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana) 10
  • 3. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Quick-Step) 8
  • 4. Robert Gesink (Netherlands / LottoNL) 8
  • 5. Warren Barguil (France / Sunweb) 7
  • 6. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 6
  • 7. Guillaume Martin (France / Wanty) 6
  • 8. Jan Bakelants (Belgium / AG2R) 5
  • 9. Serge Pauwels (Belgium / Dimension Data) 5
  • 10. Richie Porte (Australia / BMC Racing) 4
'Saand Ki Aankh'

Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

While you're here
Match info

Premier League

Manchester United 2 (Martial 30', Lingard 69')
Arsenal 2 (Mustafi 26', Rojo 68' OG)

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

RESULTS

Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.

Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.

Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.

Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.

Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.

Catchweight 80kg​​​​​​​
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.

Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.

Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.

Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.

Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.

Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.

Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury

Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')

Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)

Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)

Polarised public

31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all

Source: YouGov

What's in the deal?

Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024

India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.

India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.

Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments

India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery

SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FOLD5
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Updated: April 11, 2022, 8:36 PM