Montana Attorney General is suing the Biden administration over a gun regulation

FIRST ON FOX — Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen is preparing to sue the Biden administration over its gun violence executive order, saying the president “should know better” than issuing “draconian gun control measures.”

Knudson tells Fox Digital that his office is waiting for the Biden administration to act on its direction — what President Biden calls a “whole-of-government approach” to pursue “every legally available and appropriate action” to combat gun violence.

The White House said it wants to use federal agencies to promote red-flag laws, expand background checks and gather more information about state-licensed gun dealers.

“They don’t dare say it out loud, but they’re talking about investigating private firearms transactions and trying to require Americans to do a background check on every private firearm transfer,” Knudson said. “Well, as nice as that sounds, what do we know about criminals? They don’t obey the law and don’t buy their firearms from retailers. They steal guns.”

BIDEN ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE ORDER TO EXPAND WEAPONS BACKGROUND CHECKS AND CALLS ON LEGISLATORS TO GO FURTHER

Between 2017 and 2021, privately-made firearms submitted to ATF increased 1,083 percent, with 37,980 firearms traced, the agency said National Firearms Trade and Commerce.

“A gun is no different … than a lot of other personal possessions in America,” Knudson said. “If I get my 14-year-old son a shotgun for his birthday, do I have to go through a background check and does he have to go through a background check? The answer to that is no. I am his father and I can give him a present. It’s happening all over this country.

But Biden says the order is designed to protect child safety and is urging Congress to go further and pass universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons.

President Joe Biden delivers a remark on reducing gun violence March 14, 2023 at the Boys and Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“We will no longer allow the interests of gun manufacturers to prevail over the safety of our children and our nation,” Biden said Tuesday during a visit to Monterey, California.

Acknowledging the limits of his own power when he announced executive action on Tuesday, Biden said his use of executive power does not “absolve” Congress of its responsibility to enact broader background-check legislation and “extend arms manufacturers’ immunity from.” to remove liability”. “

However, with Republicans controlling the House and a slim Democrat majority in the Senate, Knudson doesn’t believe the President has the support to pass broader gun control legislation.

“He doesn’t have the votes in the Senate to do any of these gun control magic bullets that he wants to do. So what is he doing? He’s running into his administrative state,” Knudson said.

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The order requires federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to respond to the executive action within 180 days. Knudson says as the agencies spell out how they will implement the policy, it will become clearer how he will launch a legal challenge.