On Tuesday, President Joe Biden spoke in favor of two new gun reform measures after two mass shootings in one week in Boulder, Colorado and Atlanta, Georgia. Gun reforms strengthening background checks have already passed the House and will arrive in the Senate soon. Biden urged senators to act swiftly saying, “It will save lives, American lives, and we have to act.”
“This is not and should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue,” Biden said. “I want to be clear: those poor folks who died left behind families — leaves a big hole in their hearts. And we can save lives increasing the background checks like they’re supposed to occur and eliminating assault weapons and the size of the magazines.”
Biden spoke passionately about the ten victims from the Boulder shooting. “Ten lives have been lost and more families have been shattered by gun violence in the state of Colorado, and Jill and I are devastated,” Biden said. “And the feeling, I just can’t imagine how the families are feeling, the victims whose futures were stolen from them, from their families, from their loved ones, who now have to struggle to go on and try to make sense of what’s happened.”
When Biden was vice president, then President Barack Obama fought for enhanced gun regulations in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012. “This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer,” Biden said during a speech in February, echoing Obama.
