One month since a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a landmark gun control bill into law.
“Time is of the essence. Lives will be saved,” Biden said in an address to the nation. “From Columbine to Sandy Hook to Charleston, Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland, El Paso, Atlanta, Buffalo, Uvalde and for the shootings that happen every day in the streets. How many times have you heard that, ‘just do something, for God’s sake just do something’?”
“Today, we did,” Biden added.
Titled the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the legislation marks the biggest reform package passed by Congress in nearly 30 years. The bill will incentivize states to pass red flag laws, while enhancing background checks on young gun buyers between 18 and 21 years of age.
“While this bill doesn’t do everything I want, it does include actions I’ve long called for that are going to save lives,” Biden said. “Today, we say more than ‘enough.’ We say more than enough. This time, when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential.”
Biden added, “If we can reach compromise on guns, we ought to be able to reach a compromise on other critical issues, from veterans’ health care to cutting edge American innovation and so much more. I know there’s much more work to do, and I’m never going to give up, but this is a monumental day.”
