President Biden renewed his call for universal background checks and red flag laws in the wake of last weekend's mass shooting in a Chicago suburb.
“This tragedy underscores why I am committed to taking guns off our streets and keeping them out of the hands of those who seek to harm themselves or others,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday. “I did it,” he said.
“That’s why my administration is strengthening the gun background check system and cracking down on gun trafficking through the bipartisan Safer Communities Act. We have taken dozens of executive actions to end the epidemic of gun violence, including universal background checks and the passage of national red flag laws, in addition to other common sense gun safety measures. “That's why we continue to ask Congress for this,” he continued.
In June 2022, Biden signed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which increases funding for mental health, provides incentives for states to implement red flag laws, and increases security in schools, among other things. Expanded funding.
The law was the result of bipartisan negotiations following the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting. Biden praised the bill at the time, but he continued to call for more action.
In a statement Wednesday, he expressed special condolences to the lives lost in last weekend's mass shooting in a Chicago suburb that left several people dead, and urged Congress to do more to protect communities. I asked for it.
“Jill and I are praying for the families of the eight victims killed in Joliet, Illinois, and for the broader community devastated by these tragic shootings,” he wrote. “It is within our power to stop the epidemic of gun violence tearing our communities apart. Congress must act now.”
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