Shootings pile pressure on Biden

Bloody week brings US president's gun control campaign vows into spotlight

The second deadly mass shooting in the United States in just a week is putting renewed pressure on President Joe Biden to deliver on the gun control promises he made as a candidate.

A gunman on Monday killed 10 people, including a police officer, at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado－six days after another gunman fatally shot eight people at spas in the Atlanta area of Georgia.

Authorities said on Tuesday the suspect of the Colorado shooting was a 21-year-old man who purchased an assault weapon less than a week earlier. Investigators have not established a motive.

Biden said at the White House on Tuesday: "I don't need to wait another minute－let alone an hour－to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future, and I urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act."

The Democratic president called on the Senate to approve two bills passed by the House of Representatives on March 11 that would broaden background checks for gun buyers. In addition, Biden also called for a ban on assault-style weapons.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden also is "considering a range" of executive actions to address gun violence. Such actions would not require congressional approval.

Biden, who took office in January, faces an uphill battle in winning congressional passage of gun-related measures he pledged during his presidential campaign.

The US has the world's highest rate of civilian gun ownership, RAND Corp research shows. There were more than 43,000 gun deaths last year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, in a country with a gun fatality rate consistently higher than those of other rich nations.

"I've beaten the National Rifle Association nationally twice, passed meaningful gun legislation at the federal level, and I'll do it again," Biden said last year at one of several campaign events focused on firearms violence, referring to the Republican-aligned NRA gun rights group.

"As president, I promise you I will get these weapons of war off the street again," Biden added, referring to a national ban on assault-style weapons that lapsed in 2004.

The numerous mass shootings have failed to prompt lawmakers to pass gun control legislation, thanks in large part to opposition from congressional Republicans and the NRA. The right to bear arms is enshrined in the US Constitution's Second Amendment and many in the country cherish gun rights.

Still, nearly 70 percent of US citizens support adding "strong or moderate" federal gun restrictions such as background checks, a 2019 Reuters poll found.

Congressional action

Biden's fellow Democrats hold slim majorities in the House and Senate. Most bills require 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate to move forward, a tough hurdle for gun control legislation considering that Republicans hold 50 of those seats.

Background checks are conducted to review a buyer's criminal and mental health history and other factors that could bar someone from buying a gun. A Senate panel held a hearing on gun issues on Tuesday.

Any new gun control measures signed by Biden would almost certainly face a legal challenge that could reach the Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority is seen as sympathetic to an expansive view of gun rights.

As a candidate, Biden had pledged to hold gun makers accountable in the courts for firearms violence, to sign new laws restricting assault weapons and to expand background checks for gun sales.

After fierce NRA lobbying, Senate Republicans in 2013 thwarted legislation that would expand background checks, ban assault-style weapons and bar high-capacity gun magazines. The NRA since then has encountered internal upheaval and legal challenges.

Agencies and Liu Yinmeng in Los Angeles contributed to this story.