Three years after the deadly Parkland school shooting, the United States President Joe Biden on Sunday called on Congress to institute commonsense gun law reforms. It will include banning assault weapons and the widespread firearms sales background checks as he emphasized that gun violence is also epidemic in the U.S.
Biden Urges Congress to Impose Strict Gun Law Reforms
According to CNN, Biden also emphasized that his administration will not wait for the next mass shooting before demanding the call. They will take the actions needed in order to end gun violence and make the schools and communities around the country much safer.
The call for the gun law reforms from the U.S. president comes on the third anniversary of the deadly Parkland school shooting, wherein a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. It left 17 individuals dead. The shooting incident did not only leave many survivors to speak out against gun violence but also confronted them regarding the need for gun safety reform.
Meanwhile, some Democrats in Washington are more confident in the gun law reforms because for the first time in more than 20 years, the gun safety reforms are within their reach. However, passing any gun legislation is still a long shot for the Democrats as they need to get a minimum of 10 Republicans on board with any proposal since they are holding a very majority in the Senate, CNBC reported.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, has been a vocal advocate of gun safety reform since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting which left 20 minors and six adults dead. He shared that he is feeling more confident this time in terms of reforms regarding gun violence.
He also added that the preliminary discussions regarding legislation have so far concentrated on safe storage and universal background checks which are among the proposals that the Democratic lawmakers think could be possible to push through.
The Democrat Senator from Connecticut also shared that he is hoping for the gun reforms to push through in the next few weeks, after the passage of the proposal of Biden of $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. The statement of Biden regarding his commitment against gun violence can be traced back to his campaign trail, as he campaigned on strengthening gun safety measures.
Moreover, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also mentioned on Sunday that the Congress would work with the administration to enact two background check bills passed by the Congress during their last session, Deutsche Welle reported. In addition, even in the wake of mass shootings going back to Columbine in 1999, the Congress has remained struggling for a long period of time in terms of addressing the gun violence across America.
