President Joe Biden speaks while meeting with senators from both parties at the White House on February 11, 2021.
Doug Mills-Pool / Getty Images
President Joe Biden on Sunday asked Congress to strengthen gun laws on the third anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“Today, as we cry with the Parkland community, we mourn for everyone who has lost loved ones due to armed violence,” said Biden in a statement released by the White House.
The president called for several provisions, including background checks on all arms sales, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity combs and the elimination of legal immunity for arms manufacturers.
“This government is not going to wait for the next mass shooting to answer that call. We will take steps to end our epidemic of armed violence and make our schools and communities safer, ”said Biden. “We owe it to everyone we lost and everyone left behind to make a change.”
Fourteen students and three employees were killed in the Parkland shooting. The surviving students started the March for Our Lives movement in support of gun control legislation.
Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Said in a statement on Sunday that Congress would work with the Biden government to approve two background checks. The Chamber passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act during the last Congress.
“With this solemn reminder, Democrats join the American people to renew our commitment to our unfinished work to ensure that no family or community is forced to endure the pain of armed violence,” said Pelosi. “We are not going to rest until all Americans, in schools, in the workplace, in places of worship and in all of our communities are safe, once and for all.”
Susan Rice, head of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, and Cedric Richmond, Biden’s senior adviser, held a virtual meeting last week with leaders of armed violence prevention advocacy groups to discuss how to reduce armed violence.