“We have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart,” the president said from the White House. “Ripping at the very soul of the nation. And we have to do more to protect our schools so they aren’t turned into prisons.”
“I call on Congress, again, to pass my assault weapons ban,” he continued.
The shooter was armed with two “assault-style” rifles and a pistol while carrying out the attack at The Covenant School, a private Christian school, authorities said. Police killed the shooter, identified as a 28-year-old woman, on the scene, officials said.
“It’s heartbreaking ― a family’s worst nightmare ― and I want to commend the police that responded incredibly swiftly within minutes and ended the danger,” said Biden.
The president has routinely called for banning so-called assault weapons. He made a similar plea after a string of shootings in California earlier this year that left 18 people dead and 10 others wounded.
“It’s just common sense,” Biden said in a speech earlier this month after signing an executive order that would improve the enforcement of existing laws designed to prevent mass shootings.
Biden is limited in his ability to do more without Congressional action, and lawmakers have balked at his proposal to enact universal background checks for gun sales, ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and repeal immunity from liability for gun manufacturers.
