A somberJoe Bidensaid Tuesday that he and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden were “devastated” over Monday’ssupermarket shootingin Boulder, Colorado — the country’ssecond mass shootingin public in less than a week.
Local authorities say 10 people were killed Monday afternoon in the University of Colorado town, six daysafter a shooting spree in Georgiakilled eight people, including six Asian women, at three spas.
“I even hate to even say it, because we’re saying it so often, but my heart goes out,” he continued.
Biden, 78, said the White House will continue to keep flags at half-staff to honor the victims of gun violence.
“I just can’t imagine how the families are feeling and the victims whose futures were stolen from them,” he said.
He vowed to use every tool available to him to combat gun violence and implored lawmakers to pass legislation, such as two bills that would restrict the sale of assault-style weapons and increase background checks on individuals purchasing a weapon.
President Joe Biden.Getty
The scene outside Monday’s mass shooting.David Zalubowski/AP/Shutterstock
People rush from the scene of Monday’s shooting in Boulder.Chet Strange/Getty Images
Data fromthe Gun Violence Archiveshows gun violence increased significantly in 2020, though there were no mass shootings — most frequently defined as a shooting that kills four or more people — amid widespread shutdowns and social isolation during theCOVID-19pandemic.
The grocery store and spa massacres were the first mass shootings in public placesin a year.
The two previous years saw the most mass shootings in public places on record, with 10 mass shootings in 2018 and nine in 2019, according to Jillian Peterson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a co-founder of the Violence Project,who spoke toTheNew York Times.
Peterson told theTimesthat, since some shooters mimic the actions of other killers, the media’s constant coverage of the coronavirus and a lack of high-profile mass shootings may also have contributed to fewer public mass shootings.
Prior to the recent mass shootings, during the year-long lull, “There had been a hope that maybe we broke the cycle and maybe we won’t return,” said Peterson. “Now that it’s back, a number of scholars are really concerned.”
Joe Biden.Getty
A judgereportedly blocked a ban on assault weaponsin Boulder 10 days before Monday’s shooting, according toThe Denver Post, despite the local city council having unanimously passed a ban preventing the sale of both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in 2018.
“I don’t need to wait another minute — let alone an hour — to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and the Senate to act,” Biden said on Tuesday.
He pressed lawmakers to follow suit.
“The Senate should immediately pass — let me say it again — the United States Senate, I hope some are listening, should immediately pass the two House passed bills to close loopholes in the background checks system,” Biden said.
“It should not be a partisan issue; it’s an American issue,” he said. “It will save lives. American lives. We have to act.”
source: people.com
