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President Biden demands action on gun control legislation

WASHINGTON – Many in the nation agree and are fed up with inaction on gun reform legislation and it comes in the wake of another mass shooting this time in Texas.

President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday night from the White House barely an hour after returning from a five-day trip to Asia that was bracketed by mass shootings in the United States.

He pleaded for action to address gun violence after years of failure — and bitterly blamed firearm manufacturers and their supporters for blocking legislation in Washington.

“The entire nation’s hearts are broken for the victims and their families,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said.

President Biden says it’s time to turn this pain into action, but several potential gun laws are stalled on Capitol Hill.

“Republicans don’t pretend that they support sensible gun safety legislation,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said.

Legislation like a ban on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines

If people want to talk about banning specific guns they should propose that but it wouldn’t prevent these shootings,” Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said.

Sen. Rubio is pushing the Luke and Alex School Safety Act that he said, “can pass and actually make a difference.”

It would require the Department of Homeland Security to establish best safety practices for school districts and law enforcement to help prevent tragedies from happening.

This as Democrats try get Republicans like Rubio on board to close loopholes in background checks.

“There hasn’t been a single mass shooting that is purchased at a gun show or on the internet. If people want to do it we can have that debate but don’t link it to these horrible events because they have nothing to do with it,” Rubio said.

There is also a push for Jamie’s Law, named in honor of Jamie Guttenberg, killed in the 2018 Stoneman Douglass massacre, that would require universal background checks on ammunition.

“We must ask when in god’s name will do what needs to be done to not fundamentally change the amount of carnage that goes on this country,” Biden said.

President Biden confirmed that he and the First Lady Jill Biden will be traveling to Texas in the coming days to meet with the families of the victims and said, “As a nation we must all be there for them.”


About the Author
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Ben Kennedy is an Emmy Award-winning Washington Bureau Chief for Local 10 News.

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