Friday 3 June 2022 01:01 AM Biden insists he does NOT want to 'take away' guns or 'vilify' owners as he ... trends now
President Biden pushed for sweeping gun control beyond even what the House is negotiating as he demanded Congress 'do something! For God's sake, do something!'
Still he insisted: 'This is not about taking away anyones guns. It's not about vilifying gun owners. We believe we should be treating responsible gun owners as every gun owner should behave.'
But, Biden added, 'The Second Amendment is not absolute.'
Biden praised the House for taking up a sweeping gun control package, as he said supported the more narrow, bipartisan efforts led by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Senate.
He tore into Republicans who stood in the way of tightening restrictions.
'My God, the fact that a majority of Senate Republicans don't want any of these proposals to even be debated ... I find unconscionable.'
The president then made the matter an election year issue, imploring voters to make the matter of gun control 'central to your vote.'
His calls went beyond what the House package would do, calling for an outright ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, strengthening background checks and requirements for gun owners to properly store their firearms.
Biden admitted the likely defeat on an assault weapons ban, but said that the minimum age for such weapons should at least be raised from 18 to 21.
The president targeted much of his ire at gun manufacturer immunity. 'The gun industry special protections are outrageous. It must end.'
'We should repeal the liability shield that often protects gun manufacturers are being sued for the death and destruction caused by their weapons,' Biden said.
'They're the only industry in this country that has that kind of immunity. Imagine, imagine if the tobacco industry had been immune from being sued where we'd be today.'
On the heels of another mass shooting in Tulsa, Okla Vice President Kamala Harris insisted earlier there are 'no more excuses' not to act.
'No more excuses. Thoughts and prayers are important, but not enough. We need Congress to act,' the vice president said in remarks Thursday.
Biden has said there is little left for him to do from the executive branch and urged Congress to take up measures that would ban assault weapons and strengthen universal background checks.
Meanwhile, a manhunt is underway for an unidentified gunman who shot five family members on Thursday as they attended the funeral for a man who was shot and killed by a police officer last month.
On Wednesday a gunman opened fire at a Tulsa hospital, killing four people with an AR-15 he purchased three hours before the attack. The shooting came just over a week after a gunman mowed down 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, using an AR-15 he'd purchased days earlier for his 18th birthday, which came just after a white gunman opened fire in a Buffalo grocery store, killing 10 black shoppers.
Biden is set to deliver a plea for gun control Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. ET on the heels of another mass shooting in Tulsa, Okla
'No more excuses. Thoughts and prayers are important, but not enough. We need Congress to act,' the vice president said Thursday
Bloodshed rocked the nation over Memorial Day Weekend - 150 died as a result of gun violence.
Earlier on Thursday the House
