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President Joe Biden renewed his demand for Congress to ban high-powered firearms such as the AR-15-style rifle that a gunman used to shoot Donald Trump.
“An AR-15 was used in the shooting of Donald Trump, just as other assault weapons were used to kill so many others, including children,” he said in remarks to the NAACP’s 115th national convention in Las Vegas on Tuesday. “It’s time to outlaw them. I did it once and I will do it again.”
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, which imposed the so-called assault weapons ban, was enacted in 1994. That law expired in 2004, and Congress has repeatedly decided not to renew it.
Biden repeated his call to “lower the temperature” in American politics and to “reject violence of any kind,” including the attempted assassination of his Republican rival, threats to Black election workers, and the victims of gun violence “that never make the news.”
“If we’re gonna speak about violence, we’re gonna speak about guns. More children in America died of gunshot wounds than any other reason. That is sick,” he said.
“And it’s sheer cowardice if we do nothing about it,” Biden added. “So, you wanna stand against violence in America, then join me in getting these weapons of war off the streets of America. An AR-15 was used in the shooting of Donald Trump, just as other assault weapons used to kill so many others, including children. It’s time to outlaw them. I did it once and I will do it again.”
Since taking office, Biden has made more than 70 calls to Congress to renew the assault weapons ban, which would target the most popular gun in America.
The 20-year-old suspected gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, could legally purchase rifles like the AR-15 in Pennsylvania, as shotguns and rifles can be purchased in the state at age 18. The minimum age to purchase handguns in Pennsylvania is 21.
The firearm recovered at the scene was allegedly legally purchased by the suspect’s father.
About one in 20 adults — roughly 16 million Americans — own at least one AR-15-style rifle, according to polling from Ipsos and The Washington Post. The rifles — which were initially developed as a military weapon before becoming the most popular gun in America — have also been used in at least 10 of the 17 deadliest mass shootings since 2012.
Trump has rejected calls to renew the assault weapons ban. During an address to the National Rifle Association in May, Trump claimed that the Second Amendment “is very much on the ballot” and baselessly alleged that Biden is “trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”
The message in Biden’s address on Tuesday — amid growing calls from voters and Democratic officials to end his re-election campaign — sought to contrast his agenda against Trump’s in front of an influential civil rights group with powerful reach to Black voters.
He outlined the Trump-allied Project 2025 plan for the former president’s second term, highlighting proposed policy changes that would disproportionately impact Black Americans.
Biden vowed to renew the Voting Rights Act and enshrine Roe v Wade into law, actions that he would need a Democratically controlled Congress to do.
He also pointed to Republican-led threats to Social Security and Medicare, “risking people’s lives,” and the Heritage Foundation-backed proposal to eliminate the Department of Education.
“You ought to read it — saying it’s a state issue. Give me a break,” Biden said.
He mentioned Republican proposed cuts to federal early education programs for children from low-income families, and warned that “they’ve already eviscerated affirmative action” and will “also decimate diversity, equity, inclusion, across all America.
Republican lawmakers are “trying to erase Black history — Black history is American history,” Biden said.
“I’m not being dramatic. We cannot let that happen,” he said. “That’s why it was so important to me to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. We can’t erase it.”
