WASHINGTON听–听Declaring “Enough, enough!” US President Joe听叠颈诲别苍听on Thursday called on听颁辞苍驳谤别蝉蝉听to ban assault weapons, expand background checks and implement other听驳耻苍听control measures to address a string of mass shootings that have struck the United States.
Speaking听蹿谤辞尘听the White House, in a speech broadcast live in primetime,听叠颈诲别苍听asked a country stunned by the recent shootings at a school in Texas, a grocery store in New York and a medical building in Oklahoma, how many more lives it would take to change听驳耻苍听laws in America.
“For God’s sake, how much more carnage are we willing to accept?” Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听asked.
Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听described visiting Uvalde, Texas, where the school shooting took place. “I couldn’t help but think there are too many other schools, too many other everyday places that have become killing fields, battlefields, here in America.”
The president, a Democrat, called for a number of measures opposed by Republicans in听颁辞苍驳谤别蝉蝉, including banning the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, or, if that were not possible, raising the minimum age to buy those weapons to 21听蹿谤辞尘听18. He also pressed for repealing the liability shield that protects听驳耻苍听manufacturers听蹿谤辞尘听being sued for听惫颈辞濒别苍肠别听perpetrated by people carrying their听驳耻苍s.
“We can’t fail the American people again,” Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听said, pressing Republicans particularly in the U.S. Senate to allow bills with听驳耻苍听control measures to come up for a vote.
Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听said if听颁辞苍驳谤别蝉蝉听did not act, he believed Americans would make the issue central when they vote in November mid-term elections.
The National Rifle Association听驳耻苍听lobby said in a statement that听叠颈诲别苍‘s proposals would infringe on the rights of law-abiding听驳耻苍听owners. “This isn鈥檛 a real solution, it isn鈥檛 true leadership, and it isn鈥檛 what America needs,” it said.
The United States, which has a higher rate of听驳耻苍听deaths than any other wealthy nation, has been shaken in recent weeks by the mass shootings of 10 Black residents in upstate New York, 19 children and two teachers in Texas, and two doctors, a receptionist and a patient in Oklahoma.
Lawmakers are looking at measures to expand background checks and pass “red flag” laws that would allow law enforcement officials to take听驳耻苍s away听蹿谤辞尘听people suffering听蹿谤辞尘听mental illness. But any new measures face steep hurdles听蹿谤辞尘听Republicans, particularly in the Senate, and moves to ban assault weapons do not have enough support to advance.
The U.S. Constitution’s second amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms. Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听said that amendment was not “absolute” while adding that new measures he supported were not aimed at taking away people’s听驳耻苍s.
“After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done,” Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听said, ticking off a list of mass shootings over more than two decades. “This time that can鈥檛 be true.”
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骋耻苍听safety advocates have pushed听叠颈诲别苍听to take stronger measures on his own to curb听驳耻苍听violence, but the White House wants听颁辞苍驳谤别蝉蝉听to pass legislation that would have more lasting impact than any presidential order.聽
Mr.听叠颈诲别苍‘s evening address was aimed in part at keeping the issue at the forefront of voters’ minds. The president has made only a handful of evening speeches听蹿谤辞尘听the White House during his term, including one on the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and one about the Texas shooting last week.
More than 18,000 people have died听蹿谤辞尘听驳耻苍听惫颈辞濒别苍肠别听in the United States so far in 2022, including through homicide and suicide, according to the聽骋耻苍听痴颈辞濒别苍肠别听Archive, a non-profit research group.
Canada, Australia and Britain all passed stricter听驳耻苍听laws after mass shootings in their countries, banning assault weapons and increasing background checks. America has experienced years of massacres in schools, stores and places of work and worship without any such legislation.聽
A broad majority of American voters, both Republicans and Democrats, favor stronger听驳耻苍听control laws, but Republicans in听颁辞苍驳谤别蝉蝉听and some moderate Democrats have blocked such legislation for years.聽
Prices of shares in听驳耻苍听manufacturers rose on Thursday. Efforts to advance听驳耻苍听control measures have boosted firearm share prices after other mass shootings as investors anticipated that听驳耻苍听purchases would increase ahead of stricter regulations.
In the aftermath of the Texas shooting, Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听urged the country to take on the powerful pro-驳耻苍听lobby that backs politicians who oppose such legislation.
The Senate is split, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, and a law must have 60 votes to overcome a maneuver known as the filibuster, which means any law would need rare bipartisan support.
“The only room in America where you can’t find more than 60% support for universal background checks is on the floor of the U.S. Senate,” said Christian Heyne, vice president for policy at Brady, a听驳耻苍听惫颈辞濒别苍肠别听prevention group.
While Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听and听颁辞苍驳谤别蝉蝉听explore compromises, the Supreme Court is due to decide a major case that could undermine new efforts to enact听驳耻苍听control measures while making existing ones vulnerable to legal attack.聽
Mr.听叠颈诲别苍听said he received a handwritten note听蹿谤辞尘听a grandmother who had lost her granddaughter in Uvalde that read: 鈥淓rase the invisible line that is dividing our nation. Come up with a solution and fix what’s broken and make the changes that are necessary to prevent this听蹿谤辞尘听happening again.鈥 – Reuters
