President Joe Biden said he had exhausted all executive options on assault-style weapons and pleaded for Congress to act after a mass shooting that killed three students and three adults at a school in Nashville, Tennessee.
Biden told reporters that Americans want gun control but that his hands are tied, calling it “about time” that legislators move to restrict firearms in line with public opinion.
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“I have gone the full extent of my executive authority, on my own,” Biden told reporters as he left the White House on Tuesday. “The Congress has to act. The majority of the American people want an assault weapons ban.”
Biden continued, “I can’t do anything except plead with Congress to act.”
Asked whether he intended to visit Nashville, Biden responded that he had “spoken to all of them” and indicated he did not wish to insert himself into the tragedy.
The president called the shooting “sick” in remarks on Monday.
The 28-year-old shooter opened fire with two assault-style rifles and a handgun Monday at the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre previewed Biden’s push to pressure congressional Republicans to pass an assault weapons ban, arguing that “enough is enough.”
“How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban?” Jean-Pierre told reporters during a press briefing.
