Associated PressJoe Biden, here at the White House in Washington, June 2, 2022.
UNITED STATES — Joe Biden called on the US Congress on Thursday, June 2 to find a way to limit the sale of assault rifles, nearly ten days after the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at a Texas school blown up the elected Republicans who are opposed.
“How much more carnage are we willing to accept?” the US President ranted, reiterating during this White House address to the nation that he was “enough” of these repeated shootings that America is mourning.
Behind his desk were 56 candles representing the victims of these massacres across US states and territories.
After the shootings at Uvalde Elementary School, a Buffalo convenience store, and Wednesday’s shooting at a Tulsa hospital, he insisted that “too many everyday places[had]become places of killing, battlefields.”
Joe Biden called for a national ban on the sale of semi-automatic assault rifles between 1994 and 2004. However, aware of the difficulty of passing such a measure in Congress, where his party has a very slim majority, he nuanced: “We must at least raise the legal purchase age for such weapons from 18 to 21.
Joe Biden is asking the Senate to ban the sale of guns to anyone under the age of 21 and tighten controls
“Law. For heaven’s sake. Guns kill more children in this country than car accidents or cancer. That’s enough “—Axel Monnier (@AxelMonnier) June 2, 2022
He also called for a ban on high-capacity magazines, increased criminal or psychological screening of potential buyers, and a vote on a text requiring individuals to keep their guns locked.
“In the last 20 years, more school children have died from gunfire than the total number of police officers and soldiers who have died on duty,” he said. “Think about it.”
“The Second Amendment” to the US Constitution, which guarantees the right to own a gun, “is not absolute,” the Democratic president said.
Uvalde. Buffalo. columbine. sandy hook Charleston. Orlando. Vegas. Parkland… The victims’ families have a message: DO SOMETHING. Biden urges Congress to reform common sense without “slandering” gun owners, but insists 2nd Amendment “is not absolute.” pic.twitter.com/09ZYdcGYaz
– Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) June 2, 2022
“I support the action (…) of a small group of Republican and Democratic senators trying to find a way forward, but my God the fact that the majority of Republicans in the Senate also don’t want any of these proposals even debated or put to the vote.” asked, I find that unacceptable,” he scolded.
“We cannot betray the American people again,” he continued during the 17-minute speech. “It’s time for the Senate to do something.”
After Sandy Hook
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Senator Chris Murphy wrote on Twitter. “We have to do something. And we can,” continued this Connecticut elected official who, forever scarred by the Sandy Hook shooting incident (26 dead, including 20 children in 2012), chairs the Republican-Democrat discussion group .
Thank you Mr President. Parents and children are afraid now. We have to do something. And we can. In a thoughtful, non-partisan way. https://t.co/1JPM2UrplI
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 3, 2022
The challenge for this group is to find measures that could win the approval of ten Republican senators, which is imperative because of the qualified majority in the Senate.
But in a country where more than 30% of adults own at least one firearm, conservatives staunchly oppose any action that might violate the rights of “law-abiding citizens.”
The discussions in the Senate therefore revolve around limited proposals for the time being, such as background checks on gun buyers, which associations have been calling for for years.
However, could the current Senate negotiations succeed where all others, particularly those initiated under Barack Obama after the Sandy Hook massacre, have failed?
“There’s a growing momentum for us to get something done,” Senator Chris Murphy previously said on Twitter.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey also expressed his “optimism.”
I’m optimistic about the direction we’re going and look forward to continuing to work together to create the best possible product.
— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) June 2, 2022
At the same time, elected representatives of the House of Representatives debated another important piece of legislation this Thursday that, as called for by Joe Biden, would ban the sale of semi-automatic rifles to anyone under the age of 21 and the sale of large-capacity magazines.
These measures, which are due to be voted on next week in the House of Representatives, have already been called “ineffective”, “poorly thought out” and “un-American” by a group of Republicans. It therefore seems impossible that they can be accepted as they stand in the Senate.
See also on The HuffPost: Before NRA, Donald Trump calls for teachers and citizens to be armed after Texas massacre