On Tuesday night, President Biden responded to the tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left at least 18 children, two adults, and the shooter dead.
“As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name [are we going to] do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?” Biden asked.
“I spent my career as a senator and as Vice President working to pass commonsense gun laws. We can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled,” Biden said, referencing the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban which was shown to have no effect on firearm homicide rates or the number of mass shootings, and a 2014 study found that “murder rates were 19.3% higher when the Federal ban was in effect.”
“The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong,” Biden said, even though the shooter carried out the attack using a handgun. “What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?”
“Why are we willing to live with this carnage?” Biden said. “Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up to the lobbies? It’s time to turn this pain into action.”
“We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country, it’s time to act,” he added. “It is time for those who obstruct or delay or block the common-sense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget. We can do so much more. We have to do more.”
