President Biden made the stakes clear and that it is Republicans who will be blamed for future mass shootings if the block expanded background checks and an assault weapons ban.
Video:
Biden calls for the Senate to pass expanded background checks and an assault weapons ban while making an emotional appeal for Congress to act to save American lives. pic.twitter.com/R5V5sAbNie
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 23, 2021
President Biden said:
I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate we can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. If passed, it was law for the longest time, and it brought down these mass killings. We should do it again. We should close the loopholes in the background check system, including the Charleston loophole.
That’s one of the best tools we have to prevent gun violence. The United States Senate should immediately pass the two House-passed bills that would close loopholes in the background check systems. These are bills that received votes from both Republicans and Democrats in the House. This should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue. It will save lives, American lives, and we have to act. We should also ban assault weapons in the process.
President Biden drew a line and showed the nation that if Republicans continue to block commonsense gun laws, they will be the ones with blood on their hands. The only way that Republicans will ever change their ways on gun legislation is if being pro-mass killing starts costing them elections.
Republicans haven’t had to pay a political price for enabling mass shooters yet, and if Democrats don’t want to wait for the voters, Joe Biden just gave them a great argument for changing the filibuster rules to pass legislation to save American lives right now.
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Mr. Easley is the founder/managing editor, who is White House Press Pool, and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
