Evoking the pain of the deaths of his own two children in a somber speech on Wednesday, President Biden pleaded with Congress to “please do something” to stem the flow of guns implicated in mass shootings such as school massacre Nineteen children and two teachers were killed a year ago in Uvalde, Texas.
Mark the anniversary of the killing, Mr. Biden Renewed calls for stricter laws on guns, including a ban on the use of offensive weapons, such as the one used by the killer in Uvaldi. But he implicitly acknowledged that such gun laws are unlikely to be passed anytime soon, and he offered no new ideas on how to overcome entrenched opposition.
“How many parents will live out their worst nightmare before we stand up against the gun lobby?” the president asked during a brief address from the White House, with first lady Jill Biden standing beside 21 burning guns. Candles were placed in memory of the victims. “It’s time to act, it’s time to act,” he added. “It’s time to raise our voices, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as friends, neighbors, parents, fellow Americans.”
Considering the political reality that Congress is heavily influenced by gun rights activists, and the frustration of the families of many of the victims, he said: “I know it’s been a long time to make progress. But one day, our voices will be so loud , our resolve is so clear that we can no longer be stopped. We will act.”
Mr Biden’s statement a year later A gunman storms Robb Elementary School In the small Texas town of Uvalde, a fourth-grade class was opened fire in one of the deadliest school attacks in U.S. history. More than 370 police officers responded but were unable to confront the gunman for 77 minutes. School and police officials later lost their jobs, and the school district disbanded its police force entirely. The school building will be demolished.
but massacre barely impressed lawmakers at the state or national level. While the Texas Legislative Council introduced a bill to raise the age to buy an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21, the bill never passed the House of Representatives. The state also stopped arguing in court for a higher age requirement to carry a handgun, effectively lowering the age to carry a handgun from 21 to 18.
Congress passed modestly revised legislation that strengthened background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21, increased funding for mental health crisis intervention, strengthened laws banning the purchase of straws, and encouraged states to enact red flag laws empowering the government to Temporarily removing a firearm from anyone considered likely poses a danger to self or others. Mr. Biden signs the measures into law.
In Wednesday’s statement, Biden said the legislation didn’t go far enough and reiterated his call on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, implement universal background checks, require safe gun storage, pass a national red flag law and remove accountability for the gun industry Immunity.
The NRA has resisted such laws, saying they are part of a larger campaign by left-wing politicians to undermine the Second Amendment and ultimately take guns away from law-abiding citizens.
“If we start implying that their ultimate goal is to confiscate guns, gun-hating politicians, media, and activists will call law-abiding Americans crazy,” he said. The group tweeted This week, citing a White House post on the platform arguing for a ban on assault weapons. “They screamed, ‘Nobody’s coming for your guns!’ Yet today’s White House tweet advocating a broad gun ban contradicts that.”
In White House speech, Mr Biden addresses Relatives of Uvaldi victims Personally. “To the children’s families and educators, we know you’re still so rusty a year later,” Mr. Biden said. “A year of missed birthdays and holidays, school games, football games, just that smile. Gone is a year of everyday joy. The arc of his smile, the perfect pitch of her laugh.”
He made it clear that he was speaking from experience, and later referred to his trauma as a parent, who lost his first wife and 1-year-old daughter in a car accident in 1972, and then lost his adult son Beau Biden had cancer in 2015.
“While everyone’s pain is different, we hope that many of you know what it’s like to lose a child — more than once,” he said. “For those who have lost loved ones in Uvalde, for parents, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, this is what I know,” he said. “They will never disappear from your heart, they will always be a part of you.”