I DON’T NEED TO WAIT: BIDEN
Demands action on assault weapons
Congress must take action to curb access to guns and “ban assault weapons,” President Biden said Tuesday — with the White House signaling that he may issue an executive order if the call goes unheeded.
A “devastated” Biden pleaded with lawmakers to step in one day after a gunman shot up a Boulder, Colo. supermarket, killing 10 people including responding cop Eric Talley, hailed by the president as “an American hero.”
“Ten lives have been lost, and more families have been shattered by gun violence in the state of Colorado,” Biden said from the White House. “Jill [Biden, the first lady] and I are devasto tated.
“I don’t need wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act. We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again.”
The president touted his previous work in Congress during the 1990s to restrict assault weapons and called on today’s lawmakers to continue the effort. “That’s one of the best tools we have right now to prevent gun violence,” he said.
“The United States Senate — I hope some are listening — should immediately pass the two House-passed bills which close loopholes in the backgroundcheck system.”
Biden noted that the bills received bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. “This is not and should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue. It will save lives,” he said, adding that separately, “We should also ban assault weapons in the process.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters after Biden made his appeal that he was not ruling out the possibility of issuing an executive order to force the issue.
The White House is considering orders to require background checks for “ghost guns” that can be manufactured at home without serial numbers and a requirement that local cops be notified if someone fails an FBI background check to buy a gun from a registered dealer, according to recent reports.
Those orders under consideration aren’t necessarily applicable to the Boulder massacre or to the spree killings of eight people at three Atlanta-area massage parlors last week.
Suspected Atlanta shooter Robert Aaron Long, 21, reportedly bought a semiautomatic pistol from a dealer after passing a background check on the day of the killings.
And alleged Boulder gunman Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, also 21, bought a Ruger AR-556 — also apparently legally — six days before the attack, police said.
Meanwhile Tuesday, veteran Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) argued at a previously scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun control that Democrats’ calls for tighter restrictions ignored firearms ownership by minorities and women.
“In the dialogue about gun control, we rarely consider how many Americans are united in their advocacy and enjoyment of this right,” the top-ranking committee Republican said.
“I’m pleased to see women and gun owners of color make their voices heard in a time when lawenforcement response might be uncertain.” Grassley stressed during the hearing that he hoped divided Democrats and Republicans could find ways to work together in hopes of finding “bipartisan, common-sense” solutions, though many of the other lawmakers used their opening remarks to trade barbs across the aisle.
The current 50-50 split between the two parties in the Senate leaves Democrats in need of 10 Republican allies to pass any major legislation, support they don’t yet appear to have on either of the House-approved bills.