“Protect children”: after the shooting in Texas, Biden wants to ban the sale of assault rifles

US President Joe Biden on Thursday (June 2) urged Congress to ban assault rifles, strengthen checks for obtaining firearms and put in place other gun control measures to combat a surge. deadly shootings in the country, exclaiming “enough!”.

Several shootings in a few days

During a speech from the White House broadcast live on prime time television, Joe Biden asked: “How much more carnage are we willing to accept?” The United States has been rocked in recent days by a shooting at an elementary school in Texas, in which 19 children were killed, a shooting at a medical center in Oklahoma and a shooting in the parking lot of a church in Iowa.

“It’s about protecting children and families, not taking away your rights,” said Joe Biden. “This is about protecting the freedom to go to school without being shot.”

The Democratic president called for a range of measures traditionally rejected by elected Republicans, including raising the minimum age for obtaining a firearm and lifting the legal protection enjoyed by arms manufacturers when their products are used in deadly shootings. “We can’t let the American people down just yet,” the White House chief said, calling on elected Republicans to allow bills tightening gun control to pass through Congress.

Stricter laws to control guns

Activists have called on Joe Biden to take tougher action himself to stem the spike in gun violence, but the White House wants Congress to pass laws that would have a longer lasting impact than an executive order presidential. Joe Biden’s speech was intended to increase pressure on parliamentarians and keep the gun issue on the minds of voters ahead of the midterm congressional elections next November – the “midterms”. .

According to a poll, a majority of voters, both Republicans and Democrats, support tougher gun control laws.