President Joe Biden's move to rein in gun violence, unveiled Thursday, is better than nothing. If that doesn't sound like a full-throated endorsement, it's because the reforms have to be made via executive order and agency rulemaking because Congress refuses to do its job. Without legislation, the scope of the reform is limited and can be reversed with a pen stroke by a future president. But given the refusal of congressional Republicans to budge on an issue upon which large majorities of Americans agree, there was no other way to do it.

No one should view these worthy but modest steps as the final word. Several more-sweeping measures that have passed the Democrat-controlled House and are being held up by Senate Republicans may not make it into law any time soon, but they should serve as a rallying cry for a nation that has had enough of bloodshed and mass killings.

In unveiling the package of reforms, Biden correctly termed America's gun violence an "epidemic." The U.S. has higher rates of per-capita gun deaths than any other advanced country in the world, more guns in civilian hands than any other country, and a patchwork of state laws that, in red states like Missouri, amount to almost no law at all. Mass shootings have become routine, with the shooters generally using legalized weapons of war that would be unthinkable in civilian settings in most countries but are ubiquitous here. Epidemic is the right word.

Biden's plan nibbles around the edges out of necessity, as there is only so much any president can do alone on this issue. The administration will expand the existing National Firearms Act to regulate "ghost guns" — weapons made by individuals from kits, with no serial numbers or background checks — and "stabilizing braces" of the kind used in last month's Boulder, Colorado, spa killings, which transform semiautomatic pistols into firearms that function more like rifles.

The administration will also issue a comprehensive new report on firearms trafficking (police and policymakers have been relying on the same outdated data for two decades) and will encourage states to pass "red flag" laws allowing relatives or police to petition to temporarily keep firearms away from people in crisis.

These are entirely reasonable ideas, but they're a garden hose fighting a forest fire. Biden also has vowed to continue pushing Congress on more significant reforms like mandating universal background checks nationwide — the absence of which allows criminals to buy what they want at gun shows or online — and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

As long as an intransigent GOP has the Senate filibuster, none of that will pass. But it's important nonetheless for the administration and any Americans who understand the stakes to continue highlighting the crisis and pressing for reform. As the nation is tragically reminded on a regular basis, it's a matter of life and death.

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