‘It’s Time to Act’: Biden Lays Out Gun Control Agenda After Spate of Mass Shootings
01:30 GMT 03.06.2022 (Updated: 20:37 GMT 19.10.2022)
© AP Photo / Evan Vucci
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden during a national address urged lawmakers to take immediate action to pass new gun control laws that may help curb the trend of mass shootings in the United States.
The American commander-in-chief effectively laid out his gun control agenda during a late Thursday address to the nation after a series of devastating mass shootings shook the US, the most recent of which took place on Wednesday at a medical facility.
Speaking to the public, Biden called on congressional lawmakers to reinstate the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired under the George W. Bush administration in 2004, and ban high-capacity magazines. However, in the event the ban cannot be agreed to, Biden urged lawmakers to raise the legal age to purchase a firearm to 21.
"We should limit how many rounds a weapon can hold," Biden said. "Why in God's name should an ordinary citizen be able to purchase an assault weapon that holds 30-round magazines, that let mass shooters fire hundreds of bullets in a matter of minutes?"
Additionally, the president called for strengthening background checks, enacting safe storage and red flag laws, repealing gun manufacturers' immunity from liability and addressing the US mental health crisis.
Red flag laws would allow authorities, relatives or concerned individuals to petition a court to prevent a person from legally accessing a firearm should they exhibit threatening, violent tendencies.
"This is not about taking away people’s guns. It’s not about vilifying gun owners," Biden underscored to the public. "It’s about protecting communities... it's time to act."
The president said that while he respects lawful gun owners, the Second Amendment - which grants US citizens the right to own guns - is "not absolute."
"There have always been limitations on what weapons you can own in America. For example, machine guns have been federally regulated for nearly 90 years, and this is still a free country," he said.
Addressing the Republican opposition to clearing commonsense gun laws through Congress, Biden called the Senate's refusal to even hold debates on potential gun control legislation "unconscionable," adding that the political right would suffer at the ballot box in the coming elections.
“This time, we have to take the time to do something. This time, it’s time for the Senate to do something," he reiterated. "The fact that the majority of Senate Republicans don’t want any of these proposals even to be debated or come up for a vote, I find unconscionable."
Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the chamber will vote on gun control legislation in the coming week, and that it will include measures such as: raising the legal age to obtain a centerfire rifle or shotgun to 21 years, requiring all firearms to be traceable, mandating safe storage of firearms and closing the so-called "bump stock loophole."
Previous efforts to tighten gun laws have been blocked in the Senate because of the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to overcome in the 100-seat chamber. The 'nuclear option' - removing the filibuster - would allow Democrats to use their slight majority to pass legislation, but a couple of lawmakers within their own party have refused to support such a move.
Biden's comments came after a mass shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, a school massacre in Texas on May 24, and a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, on May 14.
The suspect in the deadly Oklahoma shooting bought his AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle on the day of the massacre in order to kill Dr. Preston Phillips, who had performed surgery on him and whom he blamed for enduring pain, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said on Thursday.
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman wielding an AR-15 entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where he shot and killed 19 students and two teachers. The Uvalde shooting took place just 10 days after another 18-year-old gunman killed 10 people and injured three others at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The FBI has deemed the Buffalo incident as a racially-motivated hate crime, as the shooter revealed he intended to target Black Americans.
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman wielding an AR-15 entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where he shot and killed 19 students and two teachers. The Uvalde shooting took place just 10 days after another 18-year-old gunman killed 10 people and injured three others at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The FBI has deemed the Buffalo incident as a racially-motivated hate crime, as the shooter revealed he intended to target Black Americans.
