President Joe Biden will announce an executive order Tuesday that instructs the Justice Department to increase the number of background checks on gun sales nationwide, according to senior administration officials.
Biden will make the announcement from the site of a January shooting in Monterey Park, Calif., as his calls to have Congress pass additional gun control measures have fizzled. He signed a law last year that was the most significant in decades to address gun violence, and Tuesday’s executive order builds on language in that measure.
Among other policy changes, the order would direct Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to “clarify” when the law considers someone a gun dealer and must register with the federal government, in a way that will bring the country closer to universal background checks, senior administration officials said.
