Just hours after a gunman opened fire in a Texas elementary school on Tuesday leaving at least 18 children and one teacher dead, President Joe Biden called on lawmakers to implement “common sense” gun control.
“As a nation we have to ask, when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?! When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?” Biden said during a speech Tuesday evening.
“I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage,” he continued.
Biden argued that “common sense gun laws” won’t prevent every tragedy, but “we know they work” and proceeded to reference the 1994 “assault weapons” ban.
In 2004, the Department of Justice National Institute of Justice issued a report stating that the ban did not actually reduce crime.
“We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence,” the report stated.
Biden once again indicated that he believes Second Amendment rights exist solely for hunting, saying, “Deer aren’t running through the forest with Kevlar vests on, for God’s sake. It’s just sick.”
The president then took aim at gun manufacturers, asserting they “have spent two decades aggressively marketing ‘assault weapons’ which make them the most and largest profit.”
“For God’s sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry,” Biden continued, adding, “Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone? To have the courage to deal with to stand up to the lobbies? It’s time to turn this pain into action. For every parent, for every citizen of this country, we have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: it’s time to act.”
“It’s time for those who obstruct or delay or block the common sense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget,” Biden said. “We can do so much more. We have to do more.”
Earlier Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters that Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old student of Uvalde High School, abandoned his vehicle and entered Robb Elementary School with a handgun and possibly a rifle. The gunman “horrifically and incomprehensibly” opened fire before responding officers shot and killed him, Abbott said.
