President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass an assault-style weapons ban in a statement conveying his condolences after five people were shot dead in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“Jill and I are grieving with the families in Raleigh, North Carolina, whose loved ones were killed and wounded in yet another mass shooting in America,” the president wrote in a joint statement with first lady Jill Biden. “We are thinking of yet another community shaken and shattered as they mourn the loss of friends and neighbors, including an off-duty police officer.”
GO WEST, JOE: BIDEN HITS THE TRAIL BUT MOSTLY AVOIDS SWING STATES
Joe Biden also expressed his gratitude to law enforcement and first responders who arrived on the scene late Thursday and went on to detain the 15-year-old white male suspect. The suspect is in critical condition at the hospital, along with one shooting victim.
“Enough,” Biden wrote Friday. “We’ve grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings.”
“Too many families have had spouses, parents, and children taken from them forever,” he added. “This year, and even in just the five months since Buffalo and Uvalde, there are too many mass shootings across America, including ones that don’t even make the national news.”
Biden underscored the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which closed the so-called “boyfriend loophole” and incentivized red-flag laws. The legislation, which he signed last summer, also created new federal gun trafficking and straw purchase crimes, in addition to requiring enhanced background checks for people younger than 21.
But the president contended more could be done, echoing what has become his most applauded line in his campaign stump speech four weeks before the 2022 midterm elections.
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“We must pass an assault weapons ban,” he wrote. “The American people support this commonsense action to get weapons of war off our streets. House Democrats have already passed it. The Senate should do the same. Send it to my desk and I’ll sign it.”
