US President Joe Biden has said it’s ‘time’ to ban assault weapons in America, having called for a series of major changes to gun laws earlier this year.
In an address last month, Biden said he was ‘determined to achieve an assault weapons ban in the US’, as part of his administration's Safer America Plan – which seeks to keep ‘dangerous firearms’ out of communities.
“We need to enforce our commonsense gun laws, require background checks for all gun sales in order to keep firearms out of the hands of felons and domestic abusers, and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines – weapons of war that have no place in our communities,” a statement from the White House said, adding: “The President believes we can and must do more to reduce crime and save lives. On July 21, President Biden announced his Safer America Plan to build on the progress he has made to reduce gun violence.”
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Biden could now not be making his stance any less clear, having tweeted to say it was time to ban assault weapons once and for all.
“It's time we ban assault weapons in this country,” he said in a post that has attracted hundreds of thousands of likes.
Back in June, just weeks after May’s horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Biden called for three major changes to gun laws in the US – urging Congress to ban assault weapons, raise the legal age to buy guns and expand background checks.
Speaking from the White House, the president said: “For God's sake, how much more carnage are we willing to accept?"
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Noting that ‘too many everyday places have become killing fields’, he continued: "This time we have to take the time to do something.
“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."
Biden added: "I believe the majority of you will act to turn your outrage into making this issue central to your vote."
Specifically, the Safer America Plan seeks to make communities safer by taking ‘additional commonsense steps on guns to keep dangerous firearms out of dangerous hands, including by calling on Congress to require background checks for all gun sales and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines’.
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Jess Hardiman