In his first statement after the shooting attack at a supermarket that killed at least 10 people in Colorado (US), President Joe Biden urged lawmakers to adopt tougher measures to control large capacity weapons , commonly used in massacres.
“It is not and should not be a question of party, it is an American question”, declared Tuesday the Democrat during a press conference at the White House (23). “We must act.”
Asked by a reporter if he would propose an executive order, given the difficulty of passing Senate bills (which require 60 out of 100 votes, now split evenly between Democrats and Republicans), Biden said he would talk more about it. late without giving. details We are a family business.
Shortly after the president’s speech, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed that the government was considering a range of executive actions to deal with gun violence, in addition to legislative proposals.
“We are definitely looking at a series of levers,” Psaki said, but cautioned that any actions should not happen immediately. “I wouldn’t expect a new proposal to be submitted in less than 24 hours.”
The US President offered his condolences to the families of the victims and said he and his wife, Jill Biden, were devastated by the deaths.
Biden, who has not given any new information about the crime, spoke before leaving Washington for Columbus, Ohio, a visit that will mark the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, known as the ‘Obamacare.
Monday’s attack inside a supermarket in Boulder, a town of about 100,000 people in suburban Denver, killed at least ten people, including a police officer.
The perpetrator has been identified as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, who was injured and taken to hospital after exchanging gunfire with police. He is expected to be taken to jail later on Tuesday.
Investigators believe he acted alone and said he still did not know what the motivation for the attack was. The weapon used was an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, often used in massacres.
This is the second major shooting attack on record this week in the United States. On Tuesday, a man killed eight people – including six women of Asian descent – in three different massage parlors.
The back-to-back murders increase pressure on Joe Biden’s new government to keep its arms regulation campaign promises.
The Democrat did not make gun control a legislative priority in the first few weeks of his presidency, but his tone on Wednesday may indicate a change.
The president has long tried to approve gun control proposals. He was tasked with bringing forward a legislative package of gun control measures by then-President Barack Obama after the Sandy Hook murders in 2012, but the effort did not result in any meaningful legislative action.
Any attempt to bring the United States towards greater gun control has always been difficult, with strong opposition from the Republican Party in Congress and the National Rifle Association (NRA), an influential gun lobby closely aligned with acronym.
Additionally, the country has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, according to a study by Rand Corp, a non-partisan group of thinkers based in California – gun ownership is a guaranteed right in the world. 2nd American amendment. Constitution.
And even the numerous mass shootings have failed to get lawmakers to pass gun control legislation. In 2020 alone, there were more than 43,000 gun deaths in the country, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which compiles and disseminates information on violence in the United States.
Yet nearly 70% of Americans support the adoption of “strong or moderate” federal restrictions on arms. According to a 2019 Reuters poll, proposals such as background checks and the creation of a tracking database are enjoying even greater public support.
On March 11, the House passed two bills that strengthen precedent controls over the purchase of weapons – the text was first introduced after the 2018 mass shooting at a Florida school.
The first measure, which garnered 227 votes for – including 8 Republicans – and 203 against, bridges a long-standing gap by expanding background checks for those who buy guns on the Internet, at industry fairs and through some private transactions. .
The second law, passed by 219 MPs (with 2 Republican votes) and rejected by 210 others, extends the FBI’s time frame for background checks to ten business days before a sale is authorized. The transaction is currently approved if the government does not complete the check within three days.
Now the proposal goes to the Senate.