Joe Biden Renews Calls for Weapons Ban Following Series of Horrific Shootings

United States President Joe Biden on Thursday renewed calls for a weapons ban following a series of deadly shootings in the country as Republicans are set to retake control of the House of Representatives in January.

The Democratic leader said during a press event in Nantucket, Massachusetts, that the recent incident at an LGBT nightclub in Colorado reinforced the need for a weapons ban in the country. Biden said that the idea that the U.S. was still allowing semi-automatic weapons to be sold was "sick."

Calls for Weapons Ban

The president said that he would push federal lawmakers to enact a new ban on assault weapons before January when the GOP will have majority control of the House of Representatives. Biden said that he would try to get rid of assault weapons to mitigate mass shooting incidents.

Biden said that he would discuss with lawmakers to determine whether the success of his plans is possible in the near future. Until January, Democrats control the House by a slim margin while the Senate is split equally between Democrats and Republicans, as per Fox News.

In order for an assault weapons ban to be enforced, at least 10 Republican lawmakers are needed to support the proposal to break the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold. Biden, earlier this year, made calls for an assault weapons ban that fell on deaf ears among GOP members.

Many do not expect the political environment to change in January, with Democrats losing control of the House and only keeping a narrow majority of the Senate. Furthermore, the latter is nowhere near enough to break an expected filibuster without support from Republican lawmakers.

According to CNN, the LGBT club shooting involved an assault-style weapon and a handgun while another incident at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, that occurred earlier this week had the shooter using a handgun and multiple magazines.

A Series of Horrific Shootings

Next week, Congress will return with a big list of things to do in the lame-duck session and will focus primarily on the must-pass government funding bill and other priorities. The Democratic president also said that red flag laws, in which law enforcement officers can seize firearms for individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others, not being enforced across the country was "ridiculous."

The Chesapeake shooting resulted in the death of six people and injury of at least six others and followed the LGBT nightclub shooting where the shooter killed five people and injured at least 25 others.

Shortly before the Colorado shooting, a student at the University of Virginia shot and killed three other students after they got home from a class field trip. The recent string of gun violence rocked the U.S. once again and put the discussion on gun control in center light.

The recent spate of gun violence came after the nationwide headline elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead. After that incident, Congress lawmakers passed a bipartisan gun control bill that expanded background checks for people aged 18 to 21, among other measures, Yahoo News reported.