Calling for New Gun Laws, Biden Says U.S. Children Are Suffering Like Soldiers in War
Even with majorities in both houses of Congress during Mr. Biden’s first two years in office, Democrats could not pass a ban on assault weapons. Any effort now is almost certain to fail in the Republican-controlled House, as the party has largely united against new gun control measures.
But Mr. Biden said on Friday that Congress must find a way to tighten the laws.
“If this Congress refuses to act,” Mr. Biden said, “we need a new Congress.”
One year ago, a bipartisan group of lawmakers struck a narrow compromise, galvanized by a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers.
The bill expanded background checks for gun buyers and set aside millions of dollars so states can pay for intervention programs, such as mental health and drug courts, and carry out red flag laws that allow authorities to temporarily confiscate guns from any person found by a judge to be too dangerous to possess them.
Mr. Biden said Friday that the Justice Department has provided more than $230 million for states to expand such laws, and the Department of Health and Human Services has also provided more than $1.5 billion to states to hire 14,000 mental health professionals for schools.
Source: The New York Times
