Biden: “Ban Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines!”

President Biden waded back into the politically fraught politics of gun control, announcing steps to crack down on “ghost guns,” which he said have become “weapons of choice for many criminals.” During a Rose Garden event, Biden acknowledged the executive actions stemmed from an inability to get such measures through Congress and pushed back against the gun lobby’s contention that what he is doing is “extreme.” He repeated calls for Congress to pass an assault-rifle ban and other stalled measures.

Biden also formally announced the nomination of Steve Dettelbach, a former U.S. attorney in Ohio, to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The bureau has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since 2015.