President Joe Biden will deliver a prime-time address Thursday night urging Congress to pass new gun laws and calling for action after a string of mass shootings, most recently at an Oklahoma medical center.
A deadly Texas school shooting heightened calls by Democrats to tackle guns ahead of the midterm elections. Biden has been under pressure to do more through executive action to address the problem of gun violence, as well as to persuade lawmakers in the narrowly Democratic-controlled Congress to advance new bills. The White House protested on Wednesday that Biden cannot do it alone.
But the administration has found its options to use executive power are limited. It will also be difficult to get any gun legislation through the 50-50 Senate. The bill would be subject to the 60-vote filibuster threshold, therefore requiring bipartisan support, and some proposals could not garner a simple majority in the chamber.
Biden has given mixed signals on whether he is involved in bipartisan gun negotiations already ongoing in the Senate. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on gun legislation Thursday, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has pledged there will be a vote no matter what happens in the talks.
The president has called for the return of the assault weapons ban, which he helped pass as part of the 1994 crime bill while he was in the Senate. The ban lapsed a decade later, and subsequent Democratic majorities have not seriously attempted to revive it.
Biden was also former President Barack Obama’s gun violence point man after the Sandy Hook school shooting. No federal legislation ended up being passed.
“This is something that the president has been doing since day one,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday. “And not only that, you know, he worked on this in the Senate. You know, he knows how to get this done, and he’s done it before. As a senator, he helped pass our ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as enacted legislation that made the federal gun background check … we use today.”
“He has the most executive actions than any president at this time in this administration,” she later added.
Some of the other ideas to reform gun laws that have been discussed include expanding background checks for firearms purchases and raising the age limit to purchase certain weapons from 18 to 21. The Uvalde shooter was only 18, though he did pass a background check when purchasing his weapon from a federally licensed dealer.
At the federal level, “red flag” laws empowering law enforcement to confiscate firearms temporarily from individuals exhibiting suspicious behaviors have emerged as a policy that could potentially receive bipartisan support.
The police response in Uvalde is also under scrutiny, leading many to no longer regard the shooting as solely a matter of gun access. Officers waited to confront the shooter as he continued his rampage. The local department has reportedly stopped cooperating with the investigation into how the shooting was handled. The shooter was killed after federal authorities overruled the local police and entered the building to engage him.
WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T ‘KEEP AN EYE ON’ THE STOCK MARKET EVERY DAY
The White House is describing Biden’s speech as “remarks on the recent tragic mass shootings, and the need for Congress to act to pass commonsense laws to combat the epidemic of gun violence that is taking lives every day.”
In previous remarks, Biden has ripped the “gun lobby” for standing against his preferred reforms. “When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?” he asked from the White House hours after the Texas shooting. “I am sick and tired of it. We have to act, and don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on the carnage.”
Biden has also frequently invoked his own experience with personal loss following national tragedies. “To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There’s a hollowness in your chest, you feel like you’re being sucked into it,” he said. “It’s the feeling shared by the siblings and the grandparents and family members and the community that’s left behind.”
“It’s time to turn this pain into action,” he continued. “We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country. It’s time to act and to tell those who obstruct or delay or block the commonsense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget.”
Some of Biden’s lowest job approval ratings are on the issues of crime and gun violence, according to polls. Democrats are frustrated by the inaction, while many Republicans and independents oppose gun control.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Biden is set to speak at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
