Vice President Kamala Harris stated Thursday that she believes that the right to safety is a civil rights — which means that a person has a right not to live in fear of gun violence. President Joe Biden also signed an executive order to limit new technologies, such as those that make it easier to obtain and fire guns.

Harris told an East Room audience that it was a false choice for people to say they were either in favour of the Second Amendment or wanted to take away everyone’s firearms. “I support the Second Amendment, and I think we should reinstate the ban on assault weapons.”

Harris stated that the American people had a right “to live, work, pray and learn without fear — including gun violence”.

The Democratic nominee is the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Its mission is to reduce violence, assist communities in recovering from trauma caused by gun violence, and coordinate federal responses. Harris has said during her campaign that she is a gun-owner and she does not want to take guns away from responsible firearms users.

Harris received the pen from the president after he sat on the floor as the crowd gathered to sign the order.

He said, “Keep going boss.”

The president’s office is directed to conduct research on how active shooter exercises may harm students and teachers in order to create drills which maximize effectiveness and minimize harm.

Biden also called for increased funding for federal law-enforcement. “I never thought I’d be signing something like this. But we are.”

The order also establishes a task force to investigate the threats posed by machine-gun-conversion devices, which can turn a semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic firearm, and will look at the growing prevalence of 3D-printed guns, which are printed from an internet code, are easy to make and have no serial numbers so law enforcement can’t track them. The task force must report in 90 days, not long before Biden leaves office.

The president promised that he will continue to work with his administration until the end of this term and focus on the issues that are most important to him. The 81-year old president has made it a priority to curb gun violence.

He has said that he has visited the scene of too many mass killings and consoled far too many victims. Biden has been instrumental in passing gun safety legislation, and has tried to ban assault rifles. He says there is more work to be done, and that he will continue his efforts after he leaves the White House.

Biden stated, “It is time to establish universal background checks for firearms and mandate safe storage.” Start holding parents responsible for their negligence.

A majority of Americans want stricter gun laws, irrespective of the state gun laws. This desire may be linked to Americans’ perceptions about what fewer firearms could mean for our country, such as fewer mass shootings.

Gun violence is a problem that continues to plague our nation. Multiple shooters opened up on a nightlife venue in Birmingham, Ala. Saturday, killing four people and injuring 17 others. Police described the shooting as a “targeted hit” against one of those killed.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin told the audience about his own experience with gun violence when introducing President Obama. He heard his mother’s screams and saw that his brother had been shot.

He said, “I heard this scream again on Saturday as four lives were taken and 17 others were wounded in the horrendous mass shooting that took place in Birmingham.”

Woodfin stated that reducing gun violence shouldn’t be partisan. Saving lives shouldn’t be a partisan issue. He said that saving lives was the most American thing Americans could do together.

According to a database kept by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, as of Thursday there had been 31 mass murders in the U.S., resulting in at least 135 deaths, not counting the shooters.

Gun-control groups praised the order, but Randy Kozuch of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action criticized it. He said that the order was “just another attempt by the Biden and Harris Administration to divert attention from their soft on crime policies which have emboldened the criminals in our nation.”