U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down student debt relief in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, June 30, 2023.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
After several deadly “tragic and senseless shootings” ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, President Joe Biden on Tuesday renewed his call for stronger gun controls, including a ban on semi-automatic rifles.
At least 10 people were killed in mass shootings in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Fort Worth, Texas. Dozens of people were injured in those incidents, along with others in Wichita, Kansas, and Lansing, Michigan.
Five people were killed and at least 30 injured in a series of shootings in Chicago over the holiday weekend, NBC Chicago reports.
“We have the ability to once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of firearms, end liability immunity for gun manufacturers, and implement universal background checks,” Biden said in a statement. statement Tuesday.
A year ago, seven people were killed and nearly 50 injured in a mass shooting at a National Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
In January, Illinois banned the sale of semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“As we’ve seen over the past few days, more must be done in Illinois and across the country to address the gun violence epidemic that divides our communities,” Biden said.
There have been 346 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot or die, excluding the shooter.