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A senior Biden administration official said US President Biden to nominate a former special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, David Chipman to lead the agency. President will formally announce the new pick on Thursday along with a supposed executive action to address gun violence. Chipman is a widely-quoted expert on gun violence and has served as policy director for Giffords in recent years. The Giffords is a gun-control organization founded by former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in a 2011 assassination attempt. Point to be noted that Chipman would be the first permanent director of the agency in more than 6 years, after his confirmation. US Senate confirmed only one ATF director in the last 15 years.

Two Biden officials have confirmed that steps regarding ghost guns are one part of the president’s announcement. Several others confirmed an announcement is coming on Thursday and said they expected to learn more details from the White House later Wednesday. The press secretary of the White House, Jen Psaki said, “I expect the president will have more to say tomorrow”. Organizations pushing for stricter gun laws and Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for years for the federal government to reclassify ghost guns and force purchasers to undergo background checks. Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat said, “Ghost guns are guns, too. And it’s time to close the loophole”. He has pushed for legislation to regulate ghost guns. It is important that ghost guns have been used in multiple shooting-related crimes in recent years.

The Biden administration has been hesitant to publicly discuss gun control during its initial focus on the Covid-19 pandemic and related economic downturn. President Biden signaled last month during his first formal news conference that he would not be rushed to address the issue in spite of recent mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado. He said that his administration would remain focused primarily on pushing legislative responses to the pandemic and his multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. Biden’s decision has allowed critics to highlight how Biden came up short on fulfilling a notable campaign pledge. He vowed in Nevada in February 2020 to send legislation to Congress on his first day in office. It would repeal the liability protection for gun manufactures and close loopholes in the federal gun background check system.