US President Joe Biden called the first major federal gun law passed in three decades evidence of “significant progress” and called for a ban on assault rifles at an event at the White House on Monday. ).
Accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, he spoke at an event on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the recent passage of the Gun Safety Act.
“How many mass shootings are we going to see where a 17, 18-year-old gunman is able to get his hands on a gun and make a killing?” Biden said.
While background checks for those under 21 have the support of some Republicans, Congress has shown little inclination to ban assault rifles. The ban on such objects expired in 2004, but the US president hopes to use growing popular outrage over the mass shootings to lead to greater pressure on lawmakers.
Biden also said he supports the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which gives Americans the right to own firearms.
In the audience for the event were many members of Congress who passed the legislation and family members of some of the people killed in mass shootings, including the recent attacks in Uvalde, Texas; Buffalo, New York; and Highland Park, Illinois.
The bipartisan bill was drafted just weeks after the attacks in Uvalde and Buffalo, which killed more than 30 people, including 19 children at an elementary school.
The law includes provisions to help states keep guns out of the hands of those deemed dangerous to themselves or others. It also blocks sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners and clamps down on the sale of guns to buyers convicted of domestic violence.
The bill came the same week the Supreme Court expanded gun owners’ rights. Control of the artifacts has been a divisive issue in the country, with several attempts to put new controls on sales repeatedly failing.
Biden, who seeks to improve public approval ratings ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm congressional elections, made securing gun control victories a part of his campaign speech.
Source: CNN Brasil
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