President Joe Biden talks to reporters upon his arrival to the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday she believes the right to be safe is a civil right — and that means a right to live free from gun violence — as President Joe Biden signed an executive order that seeks to restrict new technologies that make guns easier to fire and obtain.

“It is a false choice to suggest you are either in favor of the Second Amendment, or you want to take everyone’s guns away," Harris said during an East Room event. "I am in favor of the Second Amendment and I believe we need to reinstate the assault weapons ban.”

Harris said the American people have a right to “live, work, worship and learn without fear of violence -- including gun violence.”

The Democratic nominee for president leads the first-ever White House office of gun violence prevention, which aims to curb violence, help communities recover from the trauma of that violence and coordinate the federal response. But Harris often says during campaigning that she's a gun owner and insists she doesn't want to take weapons away from responsible firearms owners.

The president sat down as a crowd gathered around him to sign the order, then he handed the pen to Harris.

“Keep it going, boss,” he said.

The order directs the president's staff to research how active shooter drills may cause trauma to students and educators in an effort to help schools create drills that maximize effectiveness and limit harm.

“We just have to do better and can do better,” Biden said, also calling for better funding for federal law enforcement. “Never thought I’d have to sign something like this, but we do.”

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 has to report back in 90 days — not long before Biden is due to leave office.

The president has promised he and his administration will work through the end of the term, focusing on the issues most important to him. Curbing gun violence has been at the top of the 81-year-old president's list.

He often says he has consoled too many victims and traveled to the scenes of too many mass shootings. Biden was instrumental in the passage of gun safety legislation and has sought to ban assault weapons. But there's more to do, he says, and he'll continue to work after he leaves office.

“It’s time we establish universal background checks and require safe storage of firearms,” Biden said. “Start holding parents accountable for being negligent.”

Overall, stricter gun laws are desired by a majority of Americans, regardless of what the current gun laws are in their state. That desire could be tied to some Americans’ perceptions of what fewer guns could mean for the country — namely, fewer mass shootings.

Gun violence continues to plague the nation. Four people were killed and 17 others injured when multiple shooters opened fire Saturday at a popular nightlife spot in Birmingham, Alabama, in what police described as a targeted “hit” on one of the people killed.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, in introducing the president, told the crowd about his personal experience with gun violence. His brother was shot to death and he heard his mother's screams of pain.

“I heard that scream again this past Saturday, as the lives of four people were stolen and 17 other victims were shot during the horrific mass shooting in Birmingham," he said.

Woodfin said curbing gun violence should not be partisan. "Saving lives should not be a Democrat or a Republican thing. Saving lives is the most American thing we can do together,” he said.

As of Thursday, there have been at least 31 mass killings in the U.S. so far in 2024, leaving at least 135 people dead, not including shooters who died, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

The order was praised by gun-control groups, but criticized by Randy Kozuch, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, who said it was “just one more attempt by the Biden-Harris Administration to deflect attention from their soft-on-crime policies that have emboldened criminals in our country.”

News from © The Associated Press, 2024