Can the United States ban assault weapons?
President Joe Biden thinks it is possible.
Biden renewed vows to secure a new ban on assault weapons.
It comes as the clock is running out for the Democratic Party to pass legislation before it loses control of Congress in the new year.
Lawmakers have shown little inclination to outlaw assault weapons since a ban on high-capacity firearms expired in 2004, but Biden is hoping to seize on outrage about the regularity of shootings to lead to greater pressure on them to change their mind.
At a vigil for victims of gun violence, taking place in Washington, Biden said that it was done before and can be done again.
The two-hour candlelight vigil was organized by the Newtown Action Alliance in order to memorialize the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook elementary shooting in December 2012, when 20 first-grade students and six adults were murdered.
Banning assault weapons has become a big rallying cry for the Biden administration’s gun safety agenda, especially after a bipartisan law was passed through Congress earlier this year that included provisions to help states keep guns out of the hands of those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
In November, Biden said “I’m going to try to get rid of assault weapons” and that he would “start counting the votes” on whether doing so was possible before the end of the current Congress.
The House of Representatives remains in the hands of Democrats for just a few more weeks before Republicans become the majority party. Democrats will keep their majority in the Senate.
Gun control advocates are a major pressure group within Biden’s Democratic Party, while those opposed to new restrictions are a force in the Republican Party.
H.R. 1808, which would ban assault-style weapons for civilians, passed in the House of Representatives in July, only weeks after the Uvalde massacre in Texas at an elementary school, similar to that of Sandy Hook a decade before.
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