Biden said the package he signed as law represents “an important start,” but more needs to be done to curb the alarming pace of gunfire.
“Now is the time to galvanize this movement because this is our duty to the people of the nation. This is what we owe to the families of Buffalo, where a grocery store became a death camp. This is what we owe to these families in Uvalde, where there is an elementary school, became a murder camp.This is what we owe to these families in Highland Park, where on July 4, a parade went on. turn it into a murder camp, ”Biden said.
The President continued: “This is what we owe to all those families represented here today and across the country in recent years in our schools, places of worship, jobs, shops, music festivals, nightclubs and so many others. everyday places that have become extermination camps. “
The president welcomed victims of mass shootings from Columbine to Highland Park at a White House event to celebrate the federal gun safety legislation he signed last month. The new law is the most important federal legislation to address armed violence since the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004.
But the president acknowledged Monday that the law is far below what he and his party had advocated for stopping the alarming frequency of shootings in the U.S.
“It will not save all the lives of the epidemic of armed violence, but if this law had been in force years ago, even this last year, lives would have been saved. It matters. It matters. But it is not enough and we all know. that, “the president said.
Biden was interrupted during his statements by Manuel Oliver, whose son was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Oliver has been critical of the administration’s action on armed violence and has said the new arms security law does not go far enough.
The White House said the event was attended by survivors of mass shootings in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Tucson, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Santa Fe, Uvalde, Buffalo and Highland Park, as well as “survivors and relatives of the daily acts of armed violence that does not reach the national headlines “. It was also attended by cabinet members and elected officials from communities affected by armed violence.
The president said he has spent so much time with the families of the victims of the shootings over the years that he has become a “personal friend” with many. He thanked the families for their tireless defense to pass stricter gun measures, “to make sure other families do not have to suffer the same loss and pain.”
The president said he was determined to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, which face long odds of going through Congress given the razor-sharp majorities of Democrats in both houses, and said: ” I won’t stop until we do. ”
Biden promoted the investments the new legislation makes in preventing community violence, including $ 750 million to help states implement and execute crisis intervention programs. The money can be used to implement and manage red flag programs, which through court orders can temporarily prevent people in crisis from accessing firearms, and for other crisis intervention programs such as mental health courts, drug courts and veterans courts.
It also closes a gap of years in the domestic violence law, known as the “boyfriend’s loophole,” which prohibits people who have been convicted of domestic violence crimes against their spouses, partners with whom they shared children, or partners. with which they cohabited, to have pistols. The old statutes did not include intimate couples who could not live together, be married, or share children.
Just before signing the legislation last month, Biden praised the families of the victims of the armed violence with whom he had met. He said his loss-making activism had made a difference.
“I want to thank especially the families that Jill and I have (known), many of whom we have sat for hours and hours, across the country. There are so many that we have known who have lost their souls because of “An epidemic of armed violence. They have lost their son, their husband, their wife,” Biden said.
“Nothing will fill that void in their hearts. But they led the way so that other families do not have the experience and the pain and trauma they have had to go through.”
Entitled the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the bill had been passed by Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
He met after the recent mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, which was located in a predominantly black neighborhood.
This story has been updated with additional news Monday.
CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.