President Joe Biden arrives on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Washington. Biden’s decision to allow the FBI to search his home in Delaware last week is laying him open to fresh negative attention and embarrassment following the discovery of classified documents at his home and former office. But it's part of a legal and political calculation that aides believe will pay off in the long run as he prepares to seek reelection. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden is again calling for gun safety legislation in the wake of several mass shootings.
Biden urged both chambers of Congress to act quickly to deliver a bill banning assault weapons to his desk. The United States has seen 39 mass shootings in the first three weeks of 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced an Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazine Ban in the Senate on Monday, along with legislation that would raise the purchasing age to 21.
“The constant stream of mass shootings have one common thread: they almost all involve assault weapons,” Feinstein said. “It’s time we stand up to the gun lobby and remove these weapons of war from our streets, or at the very least keep them out of the hands of young people.”
Biden supported the measures Feinstein introduced, noting a 1994 assault weapons ban he helped pass which aimed to reduce the number of mass shootings.
“In the 10 years that the Assault Weapons Ban was on the books, mass shootings went down,” Biden said in a statement. “After Republicans let the law expire in 2004 and those weapons were allowed to be sold again, mass shootings tripled.”
“Communities across America have been struck by tragedy after tragedy, including mass shootings from Colorado Springs to Monterey Park and daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines,” he said. “There can be no greater responsibility than to do all we can to ensure the safety of our children, our communities, and our nation.”
But, in the currently divided Congress, it is unlikely an assault weapons ban will pass.
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Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves won reelection on Tuesday, while Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to an abortion and other forms of reproductive health care. In Virginia, Democrats swept legislative elections in a blow to GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
A Jewish man in California has died after a confrontation during dueling protests over the Israel-Hamas war, and police said Tuesday they had identified a suspect who called 911 after the altercation.
