“President Biden and Vice President Harris are announcing a new Executive Order” on gun control, a September 26th, 2024 fact sheet from the White House reads.[i] The joint announcement indicates that Vice President Harris is just as culpable as President Biden for the infringements to the Second Amendment proposed by this unconstitutional executive order.
Harris Turns Background Checks into Gun Confiscation
Kamala Harris’ executive order on gun control proposes one of the most frightening expansions of “red flag” gun confiscation laws in history. Vice President Harris proposes “Maximizing the Enhanced Background Check with Red Flag Laws.”
[T]he enhanced background check requires requesting records from state and local law enforcement and mental health repositories about potential purchasers under 21. In these and other circumstances… a person… may qualify for consideration under applicable red flag laws which would generally result in that person being ineligible to possess or receive firearms.
Kamala Harris just turned a commercial firearm background check at the point of sale into a three-step gun confiscation tool.
STEP 1: An 18–20-year-old adult goes to purchase a gun, beginning the unconstitutional wait period.
STEP 2: During the unconstitutional “enhanced background check” a non-prohibiting record is used to “red flag” the purchaser and their name is added to the database of prohibited persons.
STEP 3: The purchase is denied, and the 18–20-year-old adult has their other guns confiscated.
For the first time, the White House is proposing to use “red flag” laws to disarm potential gun purchasers when running an unconstitutional background check. The program proposes to begin with the so-called “enhanced background check” for 18–20-year-old adults, which GOA opposed from its inception.
Additional Infringements by Executive Action
The executive order also proposes a great deal of other gun control measures, which include:
- Creating carveouts to state privacy laws to disclose records for the “enhanced background check” red flags
- Weaponizing the Department of Education to invade the privacy of gun owning parents;
- Weaponizing Medicaid to push gun control;
- Earmarking $135,000,000 to bribe states into enacting gun confiscation laws; and
- Targeting replacement firearm parts lawfully sold online.
Finally, the White House is also proposing a crackdown on unserialized, 3D-printed firearms and machinegun conversion devices. Notably, 3D-printed, unserialized, and automatic firearms are all protected by the Second Amendment, but that isn’t stopping Vice President Harris.
Even if the government wanted to crackdown on machine guns and 3D printed firearms, it is likely to be difficult or impossible. The Harris-Biden Administration could never control the flow of unlawful machine gun conversion devices into the United States with a wide-open border run by the cartels. Similarly, it is impossible to stop the free flow of information—such as 3D printing files for machinegun conversion devices and unserialized firearms. A better policy would be to focus on holding violent criminals accountable.
Harris Requests Congressional Gun Control
Kamala Harris also proposed a litany of unconstitutional gun controls for Congress to pass:
Vice President Harris continue[s] to call on Congress to enact commonsense gun safety legislation—from a ban on assault weapons and bump stocks to universal background checks to a repeal of gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability—and to enact federal safe storage and red flag laws and fully fund… the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Kamala Harris’ call for “fully fund[ing]… ATF” is a direct response to the ATF budget cuts enacted in the FY 2024 appropriations bill and continued by the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025—a historic win secured by Gun Owners of America during the Biden Administration. A Kamala Harris Administration appears sure to expand the ATF’s authority to target gun owners.
[i] “FACT SHEET: President Biden and Vice President Harris Announce Additional Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and Save Lives”. White House. September 26th, 2024.
