Stand up to the gun lobby, Biden urges Americans
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Sunday
June 26, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2022
Stand up to the gun lobby, Biden urges Americans

USA

Reuters
25 May, 2022, 09:50 am
Last modified: 25 May, 2022, 09:54 am

Related News

  • PM Hasina invites US President Joe Biden to visit Bangladesh
  • US House passes gun-safety legislation as court expands gun rights
  • US Supreme Court expands gun rights, strikes down New York law
  • Biden asks Congress for gas tax holiday to lower record pump prices
  • US Senate advances first significant gun legislation in decades

Stand up to the gun lobby, Biden urges Americans

Reuters
25 May, 2022, 09:50 am
Last modified: 25 May, 2022, 09:54 am
US President Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden

Americans must stand up to the gun lobby and pressure members of Congress to pass sensible gun laws, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday after the killing of at least 19 children and two teachers in a Texas school shooting.

"As a nation, we have to ask when in God's name we're going to stand up to the gun lobby, when in God's name we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done," Biden said in a televised speech, his voice rising to a crescendo.

"I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage."

As a nation we must ask: When in God's name will we stand up to the gun lobby?

When in God's name will we do what needs to be done?

I'm sick and tired of it. We have to act.

— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022

Authorities said an 18-year-old gunman opened fire earlier in the day at an elementary school in Texas, about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio, before he apparently was killed by police officers.

Mass shootings in America are often followed by public protests and calls for action by Democratic politicians, but federal gun safety policies like background checks that are common in other countries have failed in the face of strong Republican opposition.

Biden demanded action on Tuesday night without laying out actions he intended to take, nor call for a specific vote in Congress or policy.

"I hoped when I became president I would not have to do this, again," a visibly shaken Biden said, decrying the death of "beautiful, innocent" second, third and fourth graders in "another massacre."

For every parent, for every citizen, we have to make it clear to every elected official: It's time for action.

We can do more. We must do more. pic.twitter.com/VDe0Wc7YT8— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022

Biden, whose life has been marked by family tragedy, said the parents in Texas "will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them," he said.

He asked Americans to fight the feeling of powerlessness from seeing yet another mass shooting.

The United States experienced 61 "active shooter" incidents last year, up sharply from the prior year and the highest tally in over 20 years, the FBI reported this week.

The shooting poses for Biden, already facing the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, another crisis on top of 40-year high inflation rates and the war in Ukraine. 

A mass shooting in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store 10 days ago increased pressure on the Biden administration to make good its vow to crack down on gun violence, and the killing of elementary school children is likely to increase that pressure.

When he ran for the White House, Biden promised to push gun safety measures and reduce the country's tens of thousands of annual gun deaths. Biden and his fellow Democrats have failed to get the votes in the Senate needed to pass their bills.

In 1994, Biden, then a senator from Delaware, ushered in a 10-year ban on assault weapons with a close 52-48 vote in the US Senate that was not renewed in 2004.

"When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled. The idea that an 18-year-old kid could walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons, is just wrong," Biden said.

The United States is the most heavily armed society in the world, according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, a research group. Small, rural, often Republican-led states where gun ownership is widespread have disproportionate influence in the US Senate, where a supermajority of 60 votes is needed to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber. 

Biden was briefed about the shooting aboard Air Force One as he returned from a trip to Asia, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter. He called Texas Governor Greg Abbott to offer any assistance needed.

In a proclamation issued before he landed, Biden ordered the flags at the White House and at US federal and public buildings to be flown at half-staff until sunset on May 28.

Biden lost his first wife and a baby daughter in a 1972 car accident. A son Beau died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.

World+Biz

Texas shooting / Texas / Joe Biden / US President Joe Biden / US gun legislation / USA Gun Control / Gun control

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: PMO Press Wing
    PM salutes people, opens Padma Bridge
  • Photo: PMO Press Wing
    Her moment of glory, our moment of pride
  • PM Hasina invites US President Joe Biden to visit Bangladesh
    PM Hasina invites US President Joe Biden to visit Bangladesh

MOST VIEWED

  • People protest the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade abortion decision in New York City, New York, US on 24 June 2022. Photo: Reuters
    Abortion rights activists face first day of post-Roe v Wade American life
  • US President Joe Biden signs S. 2938: Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law from the Roosevelt Room at the White House as first lady Jill Biden stands next to him in Washington, US on 25 June 2022. Photo: Reuters
    Biden signs bipartisan gun safety bill into law; takes swipe at Supreme Court
  • Supreme Court Police line up outside the United States Supreme Court as the court rules in the Dobbs v Women's Health Organization abortion case, overturning the landmark Roe v Wade abortion decision in Washington, US on 24 June 2022. Photo: Reuters
    Supreme Court conservatives assert power with abortion, gun rulings
  • Photo: Collected
    'Deepest shipwreck': US WWII ship found off Philippines
  • Photo :BSS/AFP
    Senators seek update on US security review of TikTok
  • Protestors react outside the US Supreme Court to the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito preparing for a majority of the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision later this year, in Washington, US, May 2, 2022. REUTERS/Moira Warburton
    Abortion ruling imperils gay marriage, other freedoms, liberal justices say

Related News

  • PM Hasina invites US President Joe Biden to visit Bangladesh
  • US House passes gun-safety legislation as court expands gun rights
  • US Supreme Court expands gun rights, strikes down New York law
  • Biden asks Congress for gas tax holiday to lower record pump prices
  • US Senate advances first significant gun legislation in decades

Features

Photo: TBS

A dream dreamt and then delivered

5h | Panorama
In pictures: 2022 Dhaka Motor Show

In pictures: 2022 Dhaka Motor Show

16h | Wheels
Our team full of hope and mettle, before we entered the disaster zone. PHOTO: SWAMIM AHMED

How we survived 4 days in Sunamganj flood

1d | Panorama
Photo: Bipul Sarker Sunny

Immigrants or refugees: Who really are the Maldoiyas?

1d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Building Padma Bridge a perfect reply to conspirators, says PM Sheikh Hasina

Building Padma Bridge a perfect reply to conspirators, says PM Sheikh Hasina

5h | Videos
Grand opening of Padma Bridge with colorful airshow and festival

Grand opening of Padma Bridge with colorful airshow and festival

5h | Videos
Man travelling barefoot for 47 years walks on Padma Bridge

Man travelling barefoot for 47 years walks on Padma Bridge

5h | Videos
Padma Bridge inauguration draws huge crowd

Padma Bridge inauguration draws huge crowd

9h | Videos

Most Read

1
Photo: Prime Minister's Office
Bangladesh

New investment in transports as Padma Bridge set to open

2
Japan cancels financing Matarbari coal project phase 2
Bangladesh

Japan cancels financing Matarbari coal project phase 2

3
Desco wanted to make a bold statement with their new head office building, a physical entity that would be a corporate icon. Photo: Courtesy
Habitat

Desco head office: When commitment to community and environment inspires architecture

4
Photo: TBS
Infrastructure

Gains from Padma Bridge to cross $10b, hope experts

5
20 businesses get nod for $326m foreign loan for expansion
Economy

20 businesses get nod for $326m foreign loan for expansion

6
Multiple robbery incidents reported in flood stranded Sylhet and Sunamganj
Bangladesh

Multiple robbery incidents reported in flood stranded Sylhet and Sunamganj

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab
BENEATH THE SURFACE
Cattle graze on the bank of the River Padma at Paschim Painpara near Jajira end of the Padma Bridge. Photo: Mumit M

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net