Biden Marks Uvalde Anniversary With Renewed Call to ‘Do Something’
President Biden pleaded with Congress on Wednesday to “please do something” to stop the flow of guns involved in mass shootings, in a sombre speech that evoked the pain of the deaths of two of his own children. School massacre which killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, a year earlier.
On the anniversary of the killings, Mr. Biden Again called for stricter firearms laws.That includes banning assault weapons like the one used by the killer in Uvalde. But he implicitly acknowledged that the chances of passing such gun laws anytime soon are slim, and he offered no new ideas for how to overcome strong opposition.
“How many parents will live out their worst nightmare before we stand up to the gun lobby?” the president asked during a brief speech at the White House, which was attended by the first lady, Jill Biden, and stood in front of 21 lit candles. “It’s time to act, it’s time to act,” he added. “Now is the time to make our voices heard not as Democrats or Republicans, but as friends, as parents, as fellow Americans.”
Alluding to the political reality of a Congress heavily influenced by gun rights activists and the frustration of many families of those killed, he said: “I know it’s been difficult to make progress for a long time. But There will come a time when our voices will be so loud, our resolve so clear, that we will be unstoppable. We will act.”
Mr. Biden’s statement came a year later A gunman walks into Robb Elementary School. in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, and opened fire on a fourth-grade class in one of the deadliest campus shootings in American history. More than 370 police officers responded but were unable to confront the gunman for 77 minutes. School and police officers subsequently lost their jobs and the school district completely disbanded its police force. The school building is being demolished.
But slaughter Legislators did little to move State or national level. While a Texas legislative committee introduced a bill to raise the age to purchase an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21, the bill never received a vote on the House floor. The state also stopped defending the higher age requirement to carry a handgun in court, effectively lowering the age from 21 to 18.
Congress passed the legislation with minor changes, including increased background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21, increased funding for mental health crisis intervention, strengthened laws against straw purchases and states’ Encouraging the government to enact red flag laws to temporarily take away guns from anyone. Being a danger to self or others. Mr. Biden signed these measures..
In his statement on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the legislation did not go far enough and again asked Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, universal background checks, safe storage of firearms, and more. The need, called for the passage of the National Red Flag Act. And end immunity from liability for the gun industry.
The National Rifle Association has resisted such laws, calling them part of a larger campaign by left-wing politicians to undermine the Second Amendment and ultimately take guns away from law-abiding citizens.
“Gun-hating politicians, media and activists call law-abiding Americans crazy if we even begin to suggest that their ultimate goal is confiscation.” the group wrote on Twitter This week, the platform cited a White House post advocating for an assault weapons ban. “They yell, ‘Nobody’s coming to take your guns!’ However, today’s tweet from the White House advocating for a widespread gun ban contradicts that.
Mr. Biden spoke during his speech at the White House. Loved ones of those killed in Uvalde In personal terms. “For families of kids and educators, we know a year later it’s still so raw for you,” Mr. Biden said. “A year of missed birthdays and vacations, school plays, football games, just that smile. A year of everyday happiness gone forever. The crook of her smile, the perfect pitch of her laugh.”
He made it clear that he was speaking from experience, later referring to his own traumas as a parent who lost his first wife and 1-year-old daughter in a car accident in 1972, and then to his older Son Beau Biden was diagnosed with cancer in 2015..
“While everyone’s pain is different, we love that many of you have some understanding of what it’s like to lose a child — on more than one occasion,” she said. “For those who have lost loved ones in Uvalde, for mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandmothers, this is what I know,” he said. “They will never leave your heart, they will always be a part of you.”