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President Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order to curb gun violence and enhance background checks on firearms buyers, spending part of the afternoon consoling a Monterey Park community devastated by a mass shooting on the eve of Lunar New Year in January. “I’m here on behalf of the American people to mourn with you, to pray with you, to let you know you are loved and not alone,” Biden told about 200 people in the gymnasium of a Boys & Girls Club. “I know what it’s like to get that call.... I know what it’s like to lose a loved one so suddenly. It’s like losing a piece of your soul.” (Mehta and Subramanian, 3/14)

A solemn President Joe Biden signed an executive order to close gun registration loopholes as he delivered what amounted to a eulogy for 11 people shot to death as they celebrated the Lunar New Year in a Southern California suburb. Biden recited names of the mostly immigrant victims, recalling the love of family and community that brought them to the dance hall in January, as well as the pain that will linger with their families and made the small city another in a long line of places made infamous by violence. (Nieves and Ward, 3/14)

Mr. Biden said his executive actions are designed to move the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without the passage of legislation in Congress, where partisan divides have left most gun-safety legislation stalled. The president, in his Tuesday remarks, said his executive order isn’t a substitute for congressional action. “Enough,” Mr. Biden said, directing his remarks to lawmakers. “Do something. Do something big.” (Siddiqui and Restuccia, 3/14)

He repeated the assault weapons demand on Tuesday, noting that he had advanced the effort in the Senate in 1993 to pass a ban, which expired amid political disagreement a decade later. ... Mr. Biden’s new executive order is far more modest than that kind of lofty ambition. It directs the attorney general to make sure gun dealers are complying with existing background check laws. It seeks to improve reporting of guns and ammunition that are lost or stolen while in transit. It calls for better transparency about gun dealers who are cited for firearms violations. And it directs agencies to work with the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network to improve the quality of investigations into gun crimes. (Shear, 3/14)

In addition to the background checks, Biden’s executive order directs his Cabinet to develop a proposal on how the federal government can better assist communities after a mass killing, aiming to mobilize resources for human-caused disasters in the way that Washington already does for natural disasters. Biden is also urging the Federal Trade Commission to issue a public report that would analyze how gun manufacturers market firearms to minors. Together, the actions amount to the president’s latest attempt to use his executive authority to crack down on gun violence, efforts that necessarily are narrower in scope than measures urged by gun-control activists that would require congressional approval. (Viser, 3/14)