Good morning. Welcome, Axios today. It's Wednesday the 15th of March. I'm Nyla Boudou.

Today on the show, the EPA proposes new limits for cancer-causing chemicals in our drinking

water. Also, a Russian jet collides with a U.S. drone over the Black Sea. But first,

President Biden's new action on guns. That's today's one big thing.

President Biden yesterday signed an executive order on guns with the main goal of strengthening

background checks. But his action also shows the limits of President Biden's power on this issue.

Abane Clayton is based not far from where the president was yesterday. She's a reporter in LA

with the Guardian's guns and lies in America project. And she's back with a reality check for us

on this executive order. Hi, Abane, welcome back to Axios today. Hi, thank you for having me.

So the administration says this is as, quote, close to universal background checks as possible

without additional legislation. What does this executive order actually do? Well, when it comes to

background checks, it's seeking to clarify who counts as a gun seller. Well, clarify is a bit

of a loose word. It's really trying to add more qualifications to who counts as a gun dealer and

who needs to make sure that no one is a prohibited person before they sell a firearm. I think

the traditional understanding is like you're a gun store or an online retailer is someone who

absolutely needs to perform a background check. But for private sales, a lot of those guns

fall through the cracks and we don't know where they're being moved to. We don't know who's

buying them, who the last person who had it was before it may have been stolen out of a car

and used in a shooting. So I think the Biden administration is trying to close those gaps

and get as many background checks done as possible. And how should we understand the limits of

the executive office when it comes to making changes like this? Outside of background checks,

a lot of what he has in the executive order relies on the ATF and frontline police officers

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