As the lame-duck session of Congress nears a close, President Joe Biden continues to repeat calls to ban assault-style weapons before Republicans take over the House of Representatives.
But whether he has the votes to get it done, and whether his work behind the scenes matches his public rhetoric, remains to be seen. Biden made his latest plea on the 10-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
BIDEN CALLS FOR ‘ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN’ ON SANDY HOOK SHOOTING ANNIVERSARY
“Ten years ago today at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, our nation watched as the unthinkable happened,” Biden said in a prepared statement. “Twenty young children with their whole lives ahead of them. Six educators who gave their lives protecting their students. And countless survivors who still carry the wounds of that day.”
Biden has been making the assault-style weapons pledge since before taking office, promising to implement a ban similar to the one he helped create in 1994 that lasted for a decade. The president repeated his calls for a new ban following mass shootings in June, July, and November before doing so again on Wednesday.
“The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick,” Biden said following mass shootings in Virginia and Colorado. “It has no, no social redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single, solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.”
Such a call will likely be even harder to make good on following the GOP takeover of the House in January. But amid Biden’s stringent rhetoric, questions have been asked about his commitment to the cause.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been questioned about whether Biden is meeting with legislators behind the scenes or counting votes.
“I don’t have anything to preview at this time on any calls that the president might make or will make,” Jean-Pierre said last Friday.
Biden had also said in November he would “start counting the votes” needed to ban assault-style weapons. But Jean-Pierre responded, “I don’t have any determination to share with you at this time,” when asked about the statement last week.
Still, now is the right time to make the calls, argues Democratic strategist Michael Stratton.
“Biden is as strong now as he’s ever been since his election,” said Stratton, who says he’s a gun owner and Second Amendment supporter. “The outcome of the midterms are proof of that.”
And even if the effort isn’t successful, Stratton argues he should continue pursuing it.
“Keeping the issue in front of the public is important,” Stratton said. “And I think they’ve been trying to do more behind the scenes for a long time.”
Though Biden was successful in helping secure a previous assault-style weapons ban nearly 30 years ago, that effort bore mixed results. Democrats lost control of the House for the first time in decades following passage of the sweeping crime bill, and it also included mandatory minimum sentences Biden later said he regretted.
Since becoming president, Biden already signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which closed the so-called boyfriend loophole, incentivized the introduction of red-flag laws, and rolled out enhanced background checks for people younger than 21.
Those reforms were considered modest but still represent the most significant new federal gun laws in decades. Biden promised they would save lives going forward but added that it’s “not enough.”
The issue of gun control could also prove important in the 2024 presidential election, providing another reason for Biden to keep it front and center.
But for now, getting the new ban in place remains a long shot.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a vocal gun reform advocate after the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in his state, supports Biden’s push to revive a version of the 1994 law that lapsed in 2004 since the House has already passed draft legislation. But he is realistic concerning the measure’s chances of clearing the Senate.
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“Does it have 60 votes in the Senate right now? Probably not,” Murphy told CNN last weekend. “But let’s see if we can try to get that number as close to 60 as possible.”
