US Sen. Young: Congress should decide any new gun policies
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana’s senior U.S. senator on Tuesday said any new policies on guns need to come from Congress, not the president.
Speaking to reporters ahead of President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new executive order on guns, Young, a Republican, said he didn’t like the idea of this kind of executive rulemaking. Young supported last year’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, saying at the time the act did not create any federal red flag laws or other restrictions on gun owners as a whole.
“I’m passionately for the Second Amendment. If (the order) happens to be something that is permanent until someone decides otherwise, I certainly won’t ever do that,” he said. “And the Supreme Court historically has given a very broad interpretation and application.”
Among other things, Biden’s order directs federal law enforcement agencies to integrate their data into the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. It also orders the Federal Trade Commission to investigate efforts by firearm manufacturers to target minors in advertising and sets up a support program for survivors of gun violence.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, a Democrat, said Biden’s order plays into his own administration’s efforts to combat gun violence in Indianapolis.
“I support any action that makes it harder for individuals who have no legal right to possess guns to gain access to them,” he said in a statement. “This federal action will add to ongoing efforts from my administration.”