Joe Biden, the President of the United States, and Merrick Garland, the Attorney General, met Monday with key enforcement and municipal officials about an apparently intractable American issue: the rising number of gun crimes. By several tabularization, 2021 could be the deadliest year for gun violence in the United States in the last twenty years.
According to a tabulation by Gun Violence Archive, shootings took over ten thousand and seven hundred lives this year until now. Among those, some lost their lives accidentally, but many of them were killed in homicides, robberies, and highly publicized mass shootings in areas like massage spas, homicides, and a package shipping warehouse.
Gun violence has plagued our nation for too long — and my Administration is taking action to end it. In that effort, I’m meeting with the Attorney General, law enforcement officials, and local leaders this afternoon to discuss our comprehensive strategy to reduce gun crimes.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 12, 2021
Some days backs, the U.S. president called gun violence an epidemic in the country and an international embarrassment. He also showed his helplessness to curb it due to some legal difficulties. At the start of the meeting on Monday, Biden said that while there is no suitable approach in all cases, and there are some things that work. Whereas first of those that work efficiently is curtailing the flow of firearms.
Will background checks curb gun violence?
Biden called for Senate approval of two measures to curb guns that the House of Representatives already passed. One of the House-approved measures would shut a longstanding gap in gun laws by expanding backend checks to those acquiring weapons over the internet, through some private transactions, and at gun shows. Moreover, the other would give officials ten business days, instead of the existing three, to make background checks on gun buyers.
However, the politically divided Senate, with fifty Democratic leaders and fifty Republican leaders, yet to act, and it is not clear that the Democratic Alliance, together with Kamala Harris, the U.S. Vice President casting the tie-breaking vote, will be able to gather enough votes to pass any legislation restricting gun use. In addition, only a minority of Republican representatives in the House supported the stricter controls.
Source: Web
The president also approved some stricter gun restrictions with an executive order and called for reapproval of a long-expired prohibition on the sale of assault weapons. However, the United States Constitution assurances the right to gun ownership, and any suggestions of new limitations usually draw rapid opposition from owners. In the United States, conservative representatives especially oppose the hardening of the gun laws, while more liberal representatives, though not all, usually favor new restrictions on gun sales.
The Brady Campaign to curb gun violence
Garland and Biden are going to meet with Muriel Bowser, the Mayor of Washington, Sam Liccardo, the Mayor of San Jose, Eric Adams, and California, probably the next New York Mayor, with key police officials from four cities. Furthermore, the Brady Campaign to curb gun violence says that, on average, three hundred and sixteen people are shot daily in the United States, with one hundred and six deaths. The group further says that among the total, there are thirty-nine murders and sixty-four suicides.
Read Also: Biden to Sign Executive Orders in New Gun Control Measures
