President Joe Biden is declaring that gun violence “stains our character and pierces the very soul of our nation.”
In a statement on Friday, Biden noted he and Vice President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the fatal mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indiana, where a gunman killed eight people and wounded several.
He mentioned the fatal shootings the nation recently experienced in one week. The first shooting took place at spas in and around Atlanta, Georgia, and the second took place at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.
“While we await critical details about the shooting, its motivation, and other key information, once again, I have the solemn duty of ordering the flag lowered at half-staff at the White House, public buildings and grounds, and military posts and embassies, just two weeks after I gave the last such order,” Biden said.
NEW: Pres. Biden orders flags flown at half staff following Indianapolis mass shooting, "just two weeks after I gave the last such order."
— ABC News (@ABC) April 16, 2021
"Too many Americans are dying every single day from gun violence," he says. https://t.co/x8Ql68KVUZ pic.twitter.com/DRKMx95rY6
The president called gun violence an “epidemic” in the United States and said it is something “we should not accept.”
Biden explained, “We must act. Last week, I called on the Justice Department to better protect Americans from gun violence. I also urged Congress to hear the call of the American people- including the vast majority of gun owners- to enact commonsense gun violence prevention legislation, like universal background checks and a ban of weapons of war and high-capacity magazines.”
He added, “Too many Americans are dying every single day from gun violence. It stains our character and pierces the very soul of our nation.”
Last week, Biden unveiled six executive actions on gun control, as IJR reported.
During an event at the White House, Biden made it clear none of his executive actions would infringe on Second Amendment rights.
“But no amendment to the Constitution is absolute. You can’t yell fire in a crowded movie theater and call it freedom of speech. In the beginning, you couldn’t own any weapon you wanted to own,” Biden said.
He continued, “In the very beginning, when the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren’t allowed to have weapons. So, the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we’re recommending are contrary to the Constitution.”