The president addresses the shooting in Boulder as he heads to Ohio.
Source: New York Times
President Biden said Tuesday that he was “devastated” by the killing of 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo., on Monday and called on lawmakers to quickly enact legislation that renews bans on assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines used in many mass shootings. “This is not and should not be a partisan issue — it is an American issue,” a somber Mr. Biden said in brief remarks delivered in the State Dining Room at the White House. “We have to act.”
Mr. Biden said he would not comment on the details of the attack but said he had spoken to Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland since the shooting and would continue consultations during a flight to Columbus, Ohio, in the afternoon. “Jill and I are devastated, the feeling, I just can’t imagine how the families are feeling,” he added, straying from his prepared text.
Mr. Biden then left to begin his trip to promote his $1.9 trillion stimulus package, one that is being shadowed by the new outbreak of an old problem: the mass killings of Americans with easily obtainable guns. The attack Monday in Colorado, in which a gunman killed 10 people, including a police officer, came less than a week after another gunman murdered eight people in Atlanta. The back-to-back killings amounted to a return of mass casualty shootings that had seemed, for a time, to be suppressed by pandemic lockdowns.
“It’s 10 people going about their day living their lives, not bothering anybody,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking at an event in Washington early Tuesday. She added that she was stunned that anyone would kill “a police officer who is performing his duties, and with great courage and heroism.” Mr. Biden was tasked with coming up with a legislative package of gun control measures by President Barack Obama after the Sandy Hook killings of 2012. On Tuesday, the president directed flags at federal buildings to be kept at half-staff; They had been lowered until Monday evening in honor of those killed in Atlanta.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/us/biden-columbus-ohio-stimulus.html
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