A decade has passed since the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. Since then, gun violence has soared, including the use of semi-automatic and high-capacity magazines in mass shootings.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. must do more to tackle the nation’s gun violence epidemic, and that people should have “societal guilt” for not taking more action.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the horrific mass shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators.
“We should have societal guilt for taking too long to deal with this problem. We have a moral obligation to pass and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again,” Biden said.
“We owe it to the courageous, young survivors and to the families who lost part of their soul ten years ago to turn their pain into purpose.”
Firearm deaths have become a fixture in American life. There were 1.5 million of them between 1968 and 2017. In 2020 alone, more than 45,000 Americans died by firearm, whether by homicide or suicide.
Biden was serving as Vice President at the time of the mass shooting. He reiterated a commitment to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, saying “they have no purpose other than to kill people in large numbers.”
“I am determined to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those used at Sandy Hook and countless other mass shootings in America. Enough is enough,” Biden said.
Since Sandy Hook, semi-automatic, AR-15-style rifles and high-capacity magazines have been used in several mass shootings, including one earlier this year at another elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Earlier this year, a new bill addressing guns was passed by Congress and signed into law by Biden.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act came in response to multiple mass shootings and was the first significant gun-control policy change in years.
The law enhanced background checks for those under the age of 21 and provided funding for mental health and school safety programs. It also incentivized states, but did not require, them to implement “red flag” laws and limits on the “boyfriend loophole.”
But gun control advocates said this is not enough. They are urging Congress and the White House to take action to address gun violence and pass stricter gun control policies.
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