In an interview with Univision, President Biden signaled openness to further executive action on gun control and criticized former President Trump’s stance on the issue.
When asked about taking additional executive steps given Congressional gridlock, Biden responded affirmatively and recounted meeting with families of the Uvalde shooting victims.
Univision’s Enrique Acevedo asked, “[G]un violence remains the number one cause of death for children in America. Latinos have made it a top priority across the country, especially in places like El Paso and Uvalde in Texas. Your administration called on Congress to pass common-sense gun laws, but that’s unlikely to happen in the next few months. If you’re re-elected, would you consider taking further executive action on this issue?”
Biden advocated for restrictions like assault weapons bans, limiting magazine sizes, and universal background checks.
He stressed the need to curb the proliferation of untraceable firearms and weapons of war, citing his experience teaching the Second Amendment.
Biden said, “Absolutely. Look, I, along with Dianne Feinstein, passed the first limitation on assault weapons and the number of bullets that could be in a rifle. The idea anybody needs 100 rounds in a rifle, in an AR-15, I was out in Uvalde. I met with every one of those families. I spent four hours with them. I looked at the pain in their faces. I saw what they felt. I could feel it.”
“And the idea that — and his phrase [in] another context where there was a mass shooting, I think it was in El Paso, he said — they said, what to do about it, and he said, just get over it, you’ve got to get over it, the idea we don’t have background checks for anybody purchasing a weapon, the idea that we’re going to be in a position where he says that — he famously told the NRA that, don’t worry, no one’s going to touch your guns if I — from the very beginning, I used to teach the Second Amendment in law school, from the very beginning, there were limitations.”
“You couldn’t own a cannon. You couldn’t — you could own a rifle or a gun, but there were certain things you couldn’t do. They weren’t weapons of war. And so, look, we passed the first major gun legislation in over 30 years when we passed the law that we recently passed that outlaws weapons that are made that you can’t trace and so on and so forth,” he added.
“And — but it’s not enough. I think we have to do more, and I am absolutely committed. And I’ve asked the Congress, and if I get a Congress and get re-elected, we’re going to do it again. We’re going to make sure we eliminate these weapons.”
