President Biden said he is optimistic that America can solve its gun violence crisis, pointing to political pressure that nudged Congress last year and the unrelenting push by young people and grieving parents for more action.
“We are not finished. We are not finished. We are not finished,” Mr. Biden told the National Safer Communities Summit in West Hartford, Connecticut, hosted by Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, and anti-gun violence groups on Friday.
Mr. Biden said a bipartisan gun law signed last year — the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — showed it is possible for the parties in Congress to respond to public pressure and pass gun-safety legislation.
“We did pass the most meaningful gun safety law in 30 years. We did overcome an unrelenting opposition of a gun lobby to gun manufacturers,” Mr. Biden said.
The law strengthened background checks on persons under 21 trying to buy a gun and funded state efforts to enforce red flag laws to seize weapons from persons that might be a danger to themselves or others. It also makes it harder for domestic abusers to obtain guns and provides funding for thousands of mental health professionals in schools.
The bill got through Congress after a racially motivated mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a shocking massacre in a classroom in Uvalde, Texas.
Mr. Biden on Friday boasted that he also took executive actions to combat gun violence, including a prohibition on “ghost guns” that can be assembled at home and are hard to trace.
“They’re being challenged in court but so far, so good,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Biden has acknowledged that shootings continue to happen, including one at a Texas shopping mall in May that killed eight people, including children. He also said widespread violence is too common in underprivileged areas.
“Every damn day in America, in areas that are poor, mostly minority, there’s a mass shooting that never reaches the crescendo that it reaches [in] other places. Every single day,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Biden said last year’s gun bill is only “an important first step.”
He wants to build a bigger coalition to convince Congress it is time to ban military-style weapons, sometimes dubbed “assault” weapons.
“Folks, it’s time once again that we banned AR-15 rifles,” Mr. Biden said. “They’re not only a weapon of war, they’re the single biggest driver of profits for the gun industry, that’s why they’re selling them. Profit. Profit. Profit.”
Mr. Biden said he also wants to end the legal immunity that shields gun manufacturers whose products are used in mass shootings, and he wants to see universal background checks on all gun sales.
Republicans in Congress say they are willing to do more on gun violence but new laws should punish criminals instead of law-abiding gun owners. They’ve also argued that efforts to restrict responsible gun ownership put innocent people in danger because law-breakers will find ways to obtain weapons and wreak havoc against unarmed persons.
Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat who is outspoken on the gun issue, said last summer represented “a paradigm shift in the politics surrounding this issue.”
“I believe the next decade is our decade,” he told the summit. “Today, we’re going to take some time to talk about the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and how we can get implementation right, but that bill is just the start. Until we arrive at the moment when no child fears for their life in school, or on the walk to school, then our job is not done.”
Mr. Biden said Congress will have no choice but to act, pointing to the fervor among young people who are tired of cowering behind their desks and are marching in the streets over gun violence.
“You’re the reason why I’m so optimistic about the future of this country,” he said. “You’re the best educated, most involved, least selfish, most consequential generation in American history.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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