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President Biden, in a rare prime-time address Thursday, called on Congress to take immediate action on gun control, seeking to transform emotions and anger into change as the nation deviates from a wave of horrific mass shootings from New York to Texas to Oklahoma. .
The United States has opposed firearms restrictions following horrific assassinations that have erupted more and more regularly over the past few decades, but Biden has tried to channel some in Washington’s sense that this time may be different from racist and massacre killings. a primary school that attracted the attention of the nation.
“After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done,” Biden said, citing a series of devastating massacres. “It simply came to our notice then. We really have to do something this time. ”
Biden delivered the speech at a delicate time as a small bipartisan group of senators worked on a package of potential arms restrictions that they hoped would pass conservative scrutiny. Even modest steps would mark a noticeable change in recent years.
However, the president called for a series of radical changes to the country’s gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons and a restriction on high-capacity magazines. The political dynamics in the evenly divided Senate make the odds of these proposals far-fetched, as many Republican senators and their constituents are deeply committed to the right to bear arms as part of conservative and rural culture.
Biden said that if it is politically impossible to ban weapons of attack, Congress should at least raise the age when they can be legally purchased from 18 to 21. And he tried to nod to the mood of gun supporters. “I respect the culture, tradition and concerns of legitimate gun owners,” he said. “At the same time, the Second Amendment, like all other rights, is not absolute.
But he added: “My God, the fact that the majority of Republicans in the Senate do not want any of these proposals even to be discussed or voted, I find unscrupulous.
Speaking on June 2 about the recent mass shootings, President Biden said “we need to do something this time” and that the 2nd Amendment “is not absolute.” (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Demetrius Freeman / The Washington Post)
Biden is sparingly using the president’s ability to draw attention to the nation in prime time. But the last few weeks have been bloody, even by the standards of recent years, creating a sense among many across the political spectrum that the country is facing a major crisis, even if Americans differ in nature and cause.
On May 14 in Buffalo, a white shooter opened fire at a Black supermarket and killed 10 people. Last week in Uwalde, Texas, an 18-year-old killed 19 students and two elementary school teachers. A man killed four people in hospital in Tulsa on Wednesday after accusing a doctor at the facility of continuing back pain after back surgery. President and First Lady Jill Biden traveled to Buffalo and Uwalde after the shooting to meet with the families of the victims and law enforcement officers, witnessing the pain and grief of the families and conveying the message to the survivors to “do something.”
This year alone, there have been more than 200 mass shootings, defined as attacks in which four or more people – excluding the shooter – were injured or killed, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Biden has worked on gun safety throughout his political career, supporting the adoption of the Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2004, as a senator and President Barack Obama’s point on the issue after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut. in 2012. After the Buffalo shooting, he called on Congress to take action, but so far remains out of direct negotiations for Capitol Hill.
On Thursday, Biden urged congressional negotiators to appeal to voters for the interim term, urging increased checks on gun buyers, lifting the legal immunity of gun manufacturers and demanding the safe storage of firearms, among other things.
“I have been in this battle for a long time,” the president said. “I know how difficult it is, but I will never give up, and if Congress fails, I believe that this time the majority of the American people will not give up either. I believe that the majority of you will act to turn your outrage into making this issue central to your vote. That’s enough. “
Some involved in the delicate talks worried that Biden’s speech could disrupt the talks, but others welcomed the president’s firm speech.
“From what I hear, he feels a moral imperative and an emotional commitment and a sense of obligation to help the leader,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), One of the negotiators on arms legislation, Biden and his decision to surrender. the address. “When people ask me how this path is different, the deep resentment and grief that are so all-encompassing and compelling add to the urgency of the moment and it is indeed delayed or closed time for my Republican colleagues.
After the speech, a senior Republican aide said Biden’s speech was probably not helpful in the bipartisan talks.
“It could be useful for Democrats, I really don’t know,” said the aide, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the talks. “But for Republicans, it’s just frivolous and painful. Literally no one is talking about banning weapons of attack, not even Democrats. He must get out of the way and be silent. “
Both Democrats and Republican senators are involved – including longtime veterans of the gun debate, such as Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) And John Cornin (R-Tex.), And longtime Senate negotiators Susan Collins (R-Maine). and Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) – have signaled significant progress in recent days. They also said the transaction window is limited.
Ahead of Biden’s address, two other high-ranking Republican officials closely involved in the Senate talks said they saw the speech as a sign that the White House believes the deal could be in hand and wants to position the president to take credit if negotiators succeed. .
Officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks, warned that the public introduction of unsigned requests into the discussion could hurt negotiations. “Every time the president makes unexpected remarks, such as the assumption earlier this week that a 9mm gun is a ‘high-caliber gun’ that should be banned, ‘he is taking us back,'” a senior Republican official said.
White House officials say Biden has taken unilateral enforcement action to curb firearms – such as regulating “ghost weapons” that are assembled at home and have no serial numbers – but say Congress depends on adopting broader , more permanent measures. “The president can’t do it alone,” White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said earlier Thursday.
Biden’s speech was a late addition to his schedule, with the White House announcing it only Thursday afternoon and postponing the president’s planned departure for Rehoboth Beach, Del., Where he will remain at his beach house until Monday.
Jean-Pierre said Biden had wanted to give a prime-time address on arms issues for some time, but did not do so because “he wanted to make sure there was room for negotiation by giving a seat in Congress to people who they’re having this conversation. “But now” he just felt tonight was the right time to do it. “
Although the creation of the Senate and the labyrinthine legislative process, Biden has sometimes commented that he has at least temporarily overturned the delicate negotiations on Capitol Hill, according to lawmakers on both sides. In recent months, the White House has taken care not to put the president first and foremost when it comes to such talks.
So far, there are no signs of serious problems in the Senate arms talks, with aides seeing Murphy and Cornin – two senators respected in their parties – as potential strongholds for a deal. Republicans have signaled they may be open to modest action, and Democrats have suggested they are willing to take such smaller steps.
Although any final weapons legislation will be determined by what senators can agree on, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers Thursday that her chamber will vote next week for a wide range of arms control measures that have little chance of passing into the Senate.
These provisions include raising the age when it is legal to purchase semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21, making high-capacity ammunition cartridges illegal, and subjecting ghost weapons buyers to inspections. The Senate package is likely to include more modest elements, such as incentives for states to pass “red flag” laws that allow police to sue the authorities to seize the weapons of those who have been shown to be dangerous.
Jean-Pierre said on Thursday that Biden had instructed his staff to consider what further enforcement action he could take to reduce gun violence.
“Reducing gun violence has been a top priority for this president since his first day in office and throughout his career as a senator, as vice president and clearly as president,” she said. “It was crystal clear that Congress needed to act. The president has done more through executive action, as you have heard us say, than any other president in their first year in history.
The House Judicial Committee also met on Thursday when Democrats approved a broad package of arms control legislation that party leaders hope to put to a vote next week. But the committee debate turned into a familiar spectacle, with Democrats pleading for bold federal action while Republicans opposed …
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