President Biden renewed calls for a ban on “assault weapons” in an address to the nation from the White House on Thursday evening, labeling Republican objections to some gun-control measures “unconscionable.”
Biden specifically advocated renewing legislation, initially passed in 1994, that placed restrictions on the sale of certain semiautomatic weapons and banned the sale of magazines that carry more than ten rounds. The bill’s effects on the frequency of mass shootings have been the subject of debate.
“We should reinstate the assault-weapons ban and high-capacity magazines that we passed in 1994 with bipartisan support in Congress,” Biden said. “Nine categories of semiautomatic weapons were included in that ban, like AK-47s and AR-15s.”
Biden claimed that “in the ten years it was law, mass shootings went down. But after Republicans let the law expire in 2004, and those weapons were allowed to be sold again, mass shootings tripled. Those are the facts.”
Biden’s speech came after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, during which a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. The incident was the deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, when 26 people were killed.
The Uvalde shooting followed a separate shooting on May 14 in Buffalo, N.Y., with ten people killed. The suspect in the shooting was indicted Wednesday on charges of domestic terrorism “motivated by hate” and murder.
Biden said that if an “assault-weapons” ban can’t be passed, “then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21,” and added that policies such as red-flag laws and increased background checks should also be considered in order to prevent mass shootings.
The president also blasted Republican opposition to some gun-control measures. While Biden said he supports the bipartisan discussions on gun control currently underway among some senators, “the fact that the majority of Senate Republicans don’t want any of these proposals even to be debated, or come up for a vote, I find unconscionable.”
Later on, Biden said he thinks voters will act on gun-control issues at the polls.
“If Congress fails, I believe this time a majority of the American people won’t give up, either. I believe the majority will act to turn your outrage into making this issue central to your vote. Enough, enough, enough!” Biden said.