Et was a symbolic appearance when Joe Biden stepped in front of the camera during prime time on Thursday evening, framed left and right by rows of lit candles. It was eight days ago that the American President laid flowers in front of a supermarket in Buffalo to commemorate the ten people killed in a racist massacre. It was four days ago that he paid his respects to 19 killed fourth graders and two teachers shot dead in Uvalde. A day ago, a man shot four people in a clinic in Oklahoma to get revenge on his doctor for pain after an operation.
“We’ve spent hours with hundreds of family members whose lives will never be the same again,” Biden said Thursday. “And they had a message for all of us: do something. just do something For God’s sake, do something.”
“This time we really have to do something”
The President had announced his speech just a few hours earlier. But it came as no surprise. Almost every day right now, the number of massacres, killing sprees and gun attacks in the United States is increasing. The deeds are part of a long list of recent years. On 93 days in 2022, the archive for gun violence has so far calculated 233 so-called mass shootings – firearm attacks with more than four people killed or injured.
“We really have to do something this time,” Biden said Thursday night. It’s not about taking away someone’s rights or demonizing gun owners, but about protecting children, families and entire communities. “It’s about defending our freedom to go to school, shop or church without getting shot.”
But in the political reality of the United States, even the umpteenth massacre is unlikely to change anything. In the wake of the Buffalo and Uvalde massacres, Republicans have, as usual, opposed stricter gun laws. A bipartisan group of senators is working on a compromise that could make it through the Senate. Even a slight tightening would be a milestone, but the day before his speech, Biden sounded less than hopeful that an agreement could be reached. “I’ve sat in Congress for 36 years. I’m never completely confident.”
“A matter of conscience and common sense”
After the Texas shooting, Biden described the repeated massacres as “sick” in an emotional speech. “Why are we willing to live with this slaughter?” That evening he even took a step towards critics: He respects the culture, tradition and concerns of law-abiding gun owners. At the same time, he reiterated his statement that the Second Amendment, which Republicans invoke, is “not absolute.” The rights granted as a result are “not unlimited”, they have never been. Despite gun restrictions, the United States is still a free country. “The question before us is one of conscience and common sense.”
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