Biden calls for action on gun control during impassioned address
President Joe Biden has called for a ban on the sale of assault rifles during an impassioned televised address, asking: "How much more carnage are we willing to accept?"
His primetime speech from the White House followed a series of mass shootings across the United States in recent weeks.
These killings, Mr Biden said, had turned schools, supermarkets, and other everyday spaces into ''killing fields.''
In remarks carried live by all the major US networks, he implored Congress to pass stricter gun control laws and warned that public "outrage" could influence November's midterm elections.
“Enough, enough. It’s time for each of us to do our part,” he said “For the children we’ve lost. For the children we can save. For the nation we love.”
The president repeated calls to restore a ban on the sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
A ban on assault weapons was passed by lawmakers in 1994, but lapsed ten years later.
Mr Biden added that if Congress was unable to enact an outright ban, it must raise the age requirements to buy an assault-style weapon from 18 to 21.
He also called for expanded background checks and a nationwide red flag law that would allow authorities to remove firearms from anyone considered to pose a threat.
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His fiery intervention follows a spate of killings in recent weeks that saw 19 children and two adults slain at a primary school in Texas and 10 people shot dead at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. In both cases, the gunman was an 18-year-old wielding an assault-style weapon.
“This time we have to take the time to do something,” Biden said.
“I know how hard it is, but I’ll never give up, and if Congress fails, I believe this time a majority of the American people won’t give up either,” he added. “I believe the majority of you will act to turn your outrage into making this issue central to your vote.”
All major broadcast networks broke away from regular evening programming to carry Biden’s remarks, before the start of prime-time shows.
The president cited recent statistics showing that “guns are the number one killer of children in the United States of America,” ahead of car crashes.
“Over the last two decades, more school-age children have died from guns than on-duty police officers and active-duty military - combined,” he said.
His rare address to the nation coincided with bipartisan talks among a core group of senators discussing modest gun policy changes. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said the group is “making rapid progress''.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was “encouraged” by congressional negotiations but the president wants to give lawmakers “some space” to keep talking.
The House of Representatives debated a package of gun control legislation on Thursday, including a provision raising the required age for buying semi-automatic firearms to 21.
But these reforms face a slim chance of being approved by the Senate.