Washington: Expressing concern over gun violence in the United States, President Joe Biden said that the US needs to ban assault weapons for the sake of protecting children and families or raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21.
“We need to ban assault weapons. … if we can’t, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21. Ban high-capacity magazines. Strengthen background checks. Enact safe storage laws and red flag laws. Repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability,” he said. He further said that this is not about taking away anyone’s rights. “It’s about protecting children. It’s about protecting families. It’s about protecting communities. It’s about protecting our freedoms to go to school, to a grocery store, to go to church without being shot and killed,” he said.
“This is not about taking away anyone’s guns…we believe that we should be treating responsible gun owners as examples of how every gun owner should behave,” he said.
On May 24, a mass shooting incident took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in Texas in which several people including 19 children were killed. This was the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN.
On May 31, an elderly woman was killed and two other persons were injured when gunfire erupted at a high school graduation ceremony in New Orleans.
The shooting occurred outside the Convocation Center on the campus of Xavier University where graduates of Morris Jeff High School were gathered, NBC news reported citing New Orleans police.
On June 1, at least four people were killed in a shooting incident at a hospital campus in Oklahoma’s Tulsa city, CNN reported citing police.
The shootout incidents in the US have been increasing.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden also sought advice from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern over tackling violence in the United States as shooting incidents in America have been increasing in recent days.
Biden referred to the 2019 Christchurch slaying of 51 people in mass shootings targeting Muslims. The incident prompted New Zealand to ban military-style rifles. A gun buy-back was also instituted.
“We need your guidance,” Biden said during the meeting with Arden in the Oval Office. “Your leadership has taken on a critical role in this global stage — and it really has — galvanizing action on climate change; the global effort to curb violence, extremism, and online, like happened in Christchurch,” he added.
