Reducing Gun Violence and Making Our Communities Safer
Executive Order 14092, titled “Reducing Gun Violence and Making Our Communities Safer,” is a White House directive issued by President Joe Biden in March 2023. It instructs federal agencies to pursue a broad, government-wide effort to reduce gun violence, building on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) and prior gun-violence prevention programs. The order emphasizes keeping guns away from dangerous individuals, expanding support for community violence interventions, and strengthening data, enforcement, and prevention efforts across multiple agencies. It does not create new laws or rights; instead, it directs agencies to use existing authorities and resources and to report back on actions taken and further steps needed. Key components include: agency-specific progress reports on implementing BSCA within 60 days; plans to clarify who must be licensed to deal firearms and to curb improper firearm dealing; efforts to improve safe storage, promote red-flag (extreme risk protection) laws, and address survivor and community needs; enhancements to ballistic data sharing (NIBIN) and tracking of firearm losses in transit; and a request for a government-wide analysis of how gun manufacturers market to young people. The order also directs consideration of rulemaking where appropriate and clarifies that it is implemented subject to applicable law and appropriations.
Key Points
- 1Sec. 2: Within 60 days, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Homeland Security must report to the President on actions taken to implement the BSCA, including data, early effects, and a plan to increase public awareness and use of BSCA resources.
- 2Sec. 3(a): The Attorney General should develop and implement a plan to clarify who is “engaged in the business of dealing in firearms” (and thus required to be a Federal firearms licensee), potentially through rulemaking, to strengthen compliance with background checks.
- 3Sec. 3(a)(ii)-(iv): Actions to prevent former FFLs with revoked/surrendered licenses from continuing to deal in firearms, publicly release inspection reports of dealers cited for violations (to the extent allowed by law), and support modernization of the Undetectable Firearms Act.
- 4Sec. 3(b)-(c): Expand safe storage campaigns and promote the use of extreme risk protection orders (red-flag laws) in coordination with law enforcement, health care providers, educators, and community leaders.
- 5Sec. 3(d): A plan due by Sept. 15, 2023 to outline how the Federal Government can better support survivors of gun violence, families, first responders, and affected communities, including needs in immediate aftermaths and long-term recovery; identifies required resources or legislative authorities.
- 6Sec. 3(e): DoD and relevant agencies to develop and implement principles to enhance firearm and public safety through DoD firearms acquisitions.
- 7Sec. 3(f): Federal law enforcement agencies must adopt NIBIN data submission/usage policies within 180 days that meet or exceed DOJ’s December 12, 2022 policy, ensuring prompt entry of ballistic data into NIBIN.
- 8Sec. 3(g): The Secretary of Transportation, with DOJ, to reduce losses/thefts of firearms during shipment between FFLs and improve reporting of such losses/thefts.
- 9Sec. 3(h): The Federal Trade Commission is encouraged to issue a public report analyzing how gun manufacturers market firearms to minors and civilians, including the use of military imagery.
- 10Sec. 4–5: Definitions and general provisions clarifying scope, implementation consistency with law and appropriations, and that the order does not create enforceable rights.