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The White House keeps pointing to President Joe Biden’s last substantive victory on gun violence reform, 1994’s assault weapons ban, citing this nearly 30-year-old legislative achievement as proof he can beat the “gun lobby.”
The White House announced that Biden will deliver a prime-time address Thursday evening reiterating his calls for new legislation, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced numerous questions about his messaging strategy during Thursday’s briefing, considering a bipartisan group of senators is still working to reach an agreement on the issue.
BIDEN COMES TO UVALDE WITH A STRING OF GUN CONTROL FAILURES FOLLOWING THE 1994 ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN
Jean-Pierre claimed that Biden wanted to both give lawmakers “space” to negotiate a compromise and speak directly to the public in the wake of Wednesday’s deadly shooting at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The incident marked at least the third mass shooting in as many weeks, following the tragedies in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York.
Still, Jean-Pierre was pressed on why Biden isn’t more aggressively using his office to pressure Congress to pass a bill, and why he thinks this time will be “different.”
“He’s beaten the gun lobby before,” Jean-Pierre responded in one exchange. “He did that in the Senate, and during his Congress days, he beat the gun lobby.”
Earlier in the briefing, despite reporters telling her that the Senate bipartisan group is not considering an assault weapons ban, Jean-Pierre again pointed back to Biden’s sponsorship of the 1994 ban.
“He’s the one who was able to pass an assault weapons ban, and who was able to help shepherd the legislation that put in place the federal system of background checks, so he understands how this process works,” she stated. “The president is continuing to press Congress to act, and he’s giving them the room they need to find common ground.”
Democrats held six more Senate seats in 1994 than they do in the current Congress and will require 10 Republican votes to pass any gun reform legislation.
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The president has previously stated he wants that bill to include an expansion of the federal background check process, red flag laws, and a reauthorization of the assault weapons ban.
You can watch Thursday’s briefing in full below.
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