- And that is where we begin tonight.

CBN senior Washingtoncorrespondent Tara Mergener

is here with the latest.

Tara?

- Jenna, this is PresidentBiden's first big push

on gun control since taking office

and the White House saysthis is just the beginning.

(gunshots firing)

- Gun violence in thiscountry is an epidemic.

Let me say it again.

Gun violence in thiscountry is an epidemic.

- [Tara] Bypassing Congress,the president announcing

a series of executive orders.

- I asked the Attorney Generaland his team to identify

for me immediate concreteactions I could take now

without having to go through the Congress.

- [Tara] The measures, whichfollow three mass shootings

in three weeks, thelatest in South Carolina,

among the most aggressivegun policy prescriptions

in a decade, including aJustice Department crackdown

on so-called ghost gunsmade with 3D printers.

- Modern guns are not simplycast or forged anymore,

but can also be made of plastic,

printed on a 3D printer orsold in self-assembly kits.

- [Tara] Biden is also callingfor tightening regulations

on pistol stabilizingbraces, like the one used

by the Boulder Colorado shooterin last month's rampage.

Investing in violenceintervention programs,

a firearms traffickingreport, and red flag laws

allowing cords to temporarily remove guns

from people in crisis.

On Capitol Hill, theSenate Majority Leader

also vowing to overhaul gun laws

and pass reforms requiringstricter background checks.

- It's going to be different.

A democratic majority inthe Senate is going to act.

I have committed to put legislation

to expand background checkson the floor of the Senate.

- [Tara] While the Housepassed its version last month,

gun control measures, phase slim chances

in the evenly divided Senate

where the GOP seems near unified

against most of Biden's proposals.

- The focus ought to beon identifying people

in advance who have the capacity

and the interest in carryingout these atrocious attacks.

- Biden has also nominated David Shipman,

a former Bureau of Alcohol,Firearms, and Explosives

special agent to lead the agency.

Meanwhile, pundits point outBiden's announcement falls

far short of the sweepinggun control agenda

laid out on the campaign trail,

underscoring the limitationsof executive power

to act on guns.