![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/05\/26\/USAT\/cd6e16f9-e8d2-4009-8ea6-dd031e1b3b31-WH_flag.jpg?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
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The American flag flies at half-staff at the White House on March 19, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n In April,\u00a0Biden\u00a0declared gun violence\u00a0an “epidemic and an international embarrassment.”He\u00a0announced half a dozen executive actions aimed at curbing the proliferation of\u00a0so-called ghost guns,\u00a0or untraceable weapons that can be constructed from parts purchased online, as well as\u00a0tightening\u00a0regulations on the\u00a0kind of\u00a0stabilizing braces for pistols\u00a0used in the Boulder, Colorado, shooting that left 10 people dead.<\/p>\n The orders, billed as the administration’s first steps to tackle\u00a0gun violence, fell short of\u00a0Biden’s campaign pledge\u00a0to reinstate an assault weapons ban, create a voluntary gun buyback program and send a bill to Congress to repeal liability protections for gun manufacturers and close background check loopholes on his first day in office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Biden backs\u00a0House bills that would\u00a0strengthen background checks for gun buyers and close\u00a0the so-called Charleston\u00a0loophole, which allows gun sales to proceed without a completed background check if three business days have lapsed.<\/p>\n The bills have broad public support but\u00a0have languished in an evenly divided Senate, where Democrats would need to maintain their razor-thin majority while also finding 10 Republican votes.<\/p>\n