Biden calls for assault weapons ban in a fiery speech

Joe Biden has urged for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines after a series of mass shootings that stunned America, demanding: “How much more carnage are we willing to accept?” In a primetime White House address on Thursday, with rows of candles behind him, the US president also called on Congress to strengthen background checks on gun buyers and repeal legal immunity for gun manufacturers. Biden’s impassioned plea came after a month that saw 10 people shot dead at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two teachers killed in Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; both gunmen were 18 and used an AR-15-style weapon. There have been 20 mass shootings since Uvalde, including on Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a gunman shot and killed four people and himself at a medical office. And just moments after Biden’s speech, authorities reported yet another shooting – this time outside a megachurch in Iowa – that killed three, including the shooter. Having previously expressed outrage and grief, Biden became more specific on Thursday as he sought to break a wall of resistance on Capitol Hill. “We need to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and if we can’t ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21,” he said. A previous ban on assault weapons, passed in 1994 with bipartisan support in Congress and backing from law enforcement, made a clear difference until it expired, the president continued.