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President Biden said he is optimistic that America can solve its gun violence crisis, pointing to political pressure that nudged Congress last year and the unrelenting push by young people and grieving parents for more action.
“We are not finished. We are not finished. We are not finished,” Mr. Biden told the National Safer Communities Summit in West Hartford, Connecticut, hosted by Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, and anti-gun violence groups on Friday.
Mr. Biden said a bipartisan gun law signed last year — the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — showed it is possible for the parties in Congress to respond to public pressure and pass gun-safety legislation.
“We did pass the most meaningful gun safety law in 30 years. We did overcome an unrelenting opposition of a gun lobby to gun manufacturers,” Mr. Biden said.
The law strengthened background checks on persons under 21 trying to buy a gun and funded state efforts to enforce red flag laws to seize weapons from persons that might be a danger to themselves or others. It also makes it harder for domestic abusers to obtain guns and provides funding for thousands of mental health professionals in schools.
The bill got through Congress after a racially motivated mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a shocking massacre in a classroom in Uvalde, Texas.
