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President Joe Biden noted Friday that it was one year since the passage of the first major bipartisan legislation on gun control in a generation, during a summit in Connecticut, when the gun violence is reaching record levels in the United States and Congress remains deadlocked on regulating firearms, according to CNN.
Biden signed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act on June 25, 2022, in the wake of the horrific massacres at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
In his remarks at the National Safer Communities Summit in Connecticut, Biden delivered an impassioned speech about taking additional measures to protect communities, arguing that he believes the gun control movement has reached a “tipping point.”
“Whether they are Democrats or Republicans, we all want families to be safe. We all want to leave them in a place of worship, a shopping center, a cinema, the door of a school without worrying that it is the last time we will see them. We all want our children to have the freedom to learn, read and write instead of learning to duck and cover in a classroom. And above all, we all agree that we are not done. We’re not done. We’re not done.” Biden said to applause from the packed auditorium.
Last year, Biden signed into law the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a significant advance on one of the most contentious political issues.
The administration has also implemented two dozen executive actions to try to reduce gun violence in the United States. The White House has focused on state action to try to reduce gun violence in the face of inaction by Congress.
“For me, and for most of you, this is what it really is: This is an important first step,” Biden said, referring to the gun safety legislation he signed into law last year.
Biden spoke at the University of Hartford where, in 2013, former President Barack Obama gave a speech following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. Ten years later, gun violence remains a challenging issue for the White House.
President Biden also renewed his call on Congress to Assault weapons are banned and immunity from liability for gun manufacturers ends.
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