Within the last two weeks, news of mass shootings in Idaho, Colorado, Virginia and Maryland have captured the attention of media outlets and the American public. In response, President Joe Biden has verbally renewed his commitment to banning assault rifles across the United States. While spending Thanksgiving with his family in Nantucket, Biden spoke with reporters about the matter.
“The idea that we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick,” Biden told reporters while standing near a fire station in Nantucket.
“It has no, no socially redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.”
This is not the first time that the President has spoken about the use of assault rifles this week. On November 20, he issued a statement in response to a shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs that left five people dead and two dozen injured.
“When will we decide we’ve had enough? We must address the public health epidemic of gun violence in all of its forms. Earlier this year, I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly three decades, in addition to taking other historic actions,” he said.
“But we must do more. We need to enact an assault weapons ban to get weapons of war off America’s streets.”
This year, mass shootings in the U.S. could hit record levels. In 2014, the Gun Violence Archive began recording mass shootings. Since then, only one year, 2021, has seen more mass shootings than the American public has seen in 2022. By November 22, the GVA recorded 638 mass shootings. This year, the U.S. has already endured 607 mass shootings. At this pace, 2022 will be the second-worst year on record.
