President Joe Biden appears to be frustrated with how long the country is taking to address gun violence.
He issued a statement Wednesday marking the 10th anniversary of the shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Opening the statement, Biden noted 20 children and six educators lost their lives during the shooting.
“And countless survivors who still carry the wounds of that day,” Biden said.
He explained, “We should have societal guilt for taking too long to deal with this problem. We have a moral obligation to pass and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again.”
The statement continues, “We owe it to the courageous, young survivors and to the families who lost part of their soul ten years ago to turn their pain into purpose.”
Biden mentioned the Safer Communities Act he signed into law a few months ago.
“We’ve reined in so-called ghost guns which have no serial numbers and are harder to trace. We’ve cracked down on gun trafficking and increased resources for violence prevention,” Biden said.
Read the statement below:
It’s been 10 years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
— Asma Khalid (@asmamk) December 14, 2022
“We should have societal guilt for taking too long to deal with this problem,” President Biden says in a statement issued this morning. pic.twitter.com/hQUBqXhgF0
Still, he declared, “We must do more.”
He added, “I am determined to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those used at Sandy Hook and countless other mass shootings in America.”
Concluding the statement, the president said, “Jill and I are praying today for the Sandy Hook families and the innocent lives lost that day.”
A White House official told NBC News the White House will be lit up in green Wednesday night to honor the victims of the Newtown shooting.
Axios noted since the shooting, semi-automatic, AR-15-style rifles high-capacity magazines have been used by several mass shooters.
Calls for stricter gun laws increased again after a gunman opened fire in May at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 students and two teachers.