Biden again pledges to push for a ban on assault weapons
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden spoke Thursday with the owners of an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where five people were killed in a mass shooting, offering a sign of support as he pushes to ban assault weapons.
The president, along with first lady Jill Biden, spoke on Thanksgiving with Club Q owners Nic Grzecka and Matthew Haynes. The Bidens “reiterated their support for the community as well as their commitment to fighting back against hate and gun violence,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden made the call from Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he and his family were spending Thanksgiving.
Speaking to reporters there earlier in the day, he said it’s “ridiculous” that the U.S. is not more regularly enforcing so-called red flag laws. Colorado has such a law, but officials there declined to say whether it could have been used in the case of the Club Q suspect.
Last weekend’s shooting killed five and injured 17 others.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was arrested and faces possible murder and hate crime charges.
Authorities haven’t said why the suspect opened fired at the club before being subdued into submission by patrons.
Grzecka said he believes the targeting of a drag queen event is connected to the art form being cast in a false light in recent months by right-wing activists and politicians who complain about the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children. Even though general acceptance of the LGBTQ community has grown, this new dynamic has fostered a dangerous climate.
“It’s different to walk down the street holding my boyfriend’s hand and getting spit at (as opposed to) a politician relating a drag queen to a groomer of their children,” Grzecka said Wednesday night. “I would rather be spit on in the street than the hate get as bad as where we are today.”
Biden has said he’ll push to renew a ban on semiautomatic assault-style rifles, though it’s unlikely such legislation would garner enough Republican votes to pass in Congress.
The Colorado Springs suspect is believed to have used a semiautomatic weapon similar to an AR-15, The Associated Press reported, citing a law enforcement official.
“The idea we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick, just sick. It has no social redeeming value, zero, none,” Biden said.
Asked if he’d push for an assault weapons ban in the lame-duck session of the current Congress, he said: “I’ve got to make that assessment and start counting votes.”
Just days after the Colorado killing, a Walmart Inc. employee opened fire with a handgun in a Chesapeake, Virginia, store, killing six co-workers before taking his own life.
More than 600 shootings with multiple victims have occurred this year in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive.