President Biden delivers urgent call for new restrictions on firearms after mass shooting
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – President Joe Biden told Americans on Tuesday to turn their pain into action after a mass shooting killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Biden called on the nation to pray for victims’ families, but work harder to prevent the next tragedy. He also blamed firearm manufacturers and their supporters for blocking gun legislation in Washington, D.C.
Biden added that many countries struggle with mental health issues, yet, the United States is the only country where mass shootings occur at a high frequency.
He pleaded with lawmakers to stand up to the gun lobby.
“The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong! What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for, except to kill someone? Deer aren’t running through the forest with Kevlar vests on,” Biden said.
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, made impassioned remarks on the Senate floor. Murphy represented Newtown, Connecticut, in the U.S. House at the time of the Sandy Hook massacre.
Murphy said Congress has had 10 years since Sandy Hook to take action and asked why his colleagues bother to run for office if they won’t do anything.
“I’m here on this floor to beg, to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues,” Murphy said. “Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely. I understand that my Republican colleagues will not agree with everything I may support, but there is a common denominator that we can find.”
There have so far been at least 212 mass shootings this year, according to the nonprofit organization Gun Violence Archive, which is more mass shootings than days so far in 2022.
The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as “a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter”.
The White House has lowered flags at half-staff in honor of the victims killed Tuesday.