President Biden went on national TV to ask for something to be done to address the almost daily mass shootings in America…
There was ban against assualt weapons up to 2004…
It expired….
The people he is asking is the United States Congress….
Biden acknowledges that it IS unlikely that the US Congress will …….
It didn’t when he was Vice President, and Republicans in Congress would not go for any gun control legislation then either….
President Biden urged lawmakers on Thursday to break years of ideological stalemate in Washington by passing new federal gun safety measures, calling on Congress to stop the sale of assault-style weapons, expand background checks and pass “red flag” laws after last month’s massacres in Texas and New York.
“We need to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines,” Mr. Biden said in a rare evening speech to the nation. “And if we can’t ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21, strengthen the background checks.”
He called on Congress to “enact safe storage law and red flag laws, repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability, address the mental health crisis.”
Delivering his address from the Cross Hall, a ceremonial part of the White House residence which was lined with candles in honor of the victims of gun violence, Mr. Biden described the deep grief that he experienced when he and his wife talked to the families of victims slain in the two mass shootings.
“At both places, we spent hours with hundreds of family members, who were broken, whose lives will never be the same,” he said. “They had one message for all of us: Do something. Just do something. For God’s sake, do something.”…
….
The president has repeatedly said he favors reinstating the ban on assault weapons that was in place for a decade before it expired in 2004. He has called on lawmakers to pass universal background checks for more than a decade, since 20 children were killed in a shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.
Both of those measures are seen as highly unlikely to pass in Congress, where fierce Republican opposition has historically stood in their way. Lawmakers in both parties have said recently that they do not believe there is enough bipartisan support to approve either approach….
…
White House officials have been in close touch with lawmakers over the past several days as a bipartisan group of senators has discussed a narrower set of limits on gun ownership.
The negotiations have centered on expanding background checks and providing incentives for states to pass red flag laws, which allow guns to be seized from dangerous people. The group is also looking at proposals on the safe storage of guns at home, community violence and mental health, according to aides and senators involved in the talks.
With Republicans unanimously opposed to most major gun control measures, the Senate talks offer what is probably the best chance at finding a bipartisan compromise on guns that could pass the evenly divided 50-to-50 Senate, where 60 votes are needed to break a filibuster and bring legislation to a vote.
But the endeavor faces long odds, with little evidence that either side is willing to give ground on a debate that has been stalled for years…
…
The approach Thursday night is more like the response from former President Barack Obama in January 2013, just weeks after the shooting at the school in Newtown.
Mr. Obama, flanked by Mr. Biden, who was then the vice president, proposed a package of gun control measures, including: ensuring that all gun owners go through a proper background check; improving state reporting of criminals and the mentally ill; banning assault weapons; and capping magazine clip capacity at 10 bullets.
In the face of Republican opposition, Mr. Obama dropped his demand for an assault weapon ban and limits on the size of magazine clips. After months of pushing by Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden, the Senate rejected a bipartisan effort to expand background checks.
In scathing comments after the bill died, Mr. Obama derided senators for deciding that the lives of children were not worth the effort to pass legislation.
“All in all,” Mr. Obama said at the time, “this was a pretty shameful day for Washington.”
Then there’s this….
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) pulled out a collection of handguns during a Thursday House Judiciary Committee markup on measures aimed at preventing gun violence, prompting concern from Democrats on the committee.
“I hope the gun is not loaded,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) interjected as Steube made a point.
“I’m in my house, I can do whatever I want with my guns,” Steube shot back.
Steube was not at the Capitol with other lawmakers but was attending the hearing remotely via videoconference.
He pulled out his guns while making a point about a provision in the legislation being considered that would ban sales of magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition….
top image….Doug Mills/NY Times
bottom image…Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images