On Wednesday, President Biden told survivors and families affected by gun violence that “work continues” on a “whole range” of gun control measures just weeks before Congress’s lame-duck session.
The 80-year-old president’s remarks at the 10th annual national vigil for victims of gun violence at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington came less than a month after he pledged to ban “assault weapons” and take action. “Counting the votes” until the end of the year.
“Even though our work continues to limit the number of bullets that can be in a cartridge, the type of guns that can be bought and sold, attempts to ban assault weapons, and other things – it’s just common sense. It’s just common sense. mind,” – said Biden.
“We’ve done it before,” he added, claiming that the number of mass shootings has significantly decreased due to the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2004.
But both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are increasingly pessimistic about the prospect of passing more gun control legislation before the lame duck session ends.
“I don’t think it’s on the table,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who sponsored the bipartisan Safe Communities Act that passed Congress this summer. It was reported by Fox News Digital on Wednesday about the possibility of banning assault weapons by the end of the year.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who spoke after Biden at Wednesday’s ceremony and whose home state suffered one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School 10 years ago, this month also weighed in on the possibility of an assault weapons ban on Wednesday.
Blumenthal told Fox News Digital In the Senate, “we have a lot on our plate” right now, and pro-gun control senators are “probably not the 60 votes” needed to break a filibuster.
However, Blumenthal has indicated that he would like to vote for the bill even if it fails.
“Personally, I would love to be on the record,” he said.
The White House spokeswoman was Karine Jean-Pierre published by journalists Biden’s Thanksgiving Day speech on Wednesday called for a ban on semi-automatic weapons by the end of the year, but the president gave little indication of how much he’s done on gun control in a lame-duck session.
“Look, he wants to see — he wants to see the Senate get it done. He obviously wants to see a vote in the Senate. He wants to make sure — he wants to see the assault weapons ban go through. And he thinks that this whole will save the lives of families and communities across the country,” Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.
Specifically, when asked if Biden had personally counted the votes he cast in Congress to ban assault weapons, Jean-Pierre said he was “not determined to share,” adding that “there’s a lot going on in the next few weeks.” ” he added.
“Whether it happens in the next three weeks or beyond, it remains a priority for the President,” he added.
“I am sick and tired of these shootings. We should have much stricter gun laws,” Biden told reporters outside the Nantucket Fire Department in Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day.
The president made the comments as the country reeled from November’s mass shootings at the University of Virginia, a Walmart in Virginia and an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado.
“I’m trying to get rid of assault weapons,” he said.
“I always do that — I have to make that assessment as soon as I come in and start counting the votes,” Biden added.
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