WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES) — President Joe Biden urged Congress on Friday to pass a ban on assault-style weapons, which he called a “commonsense action to get weapons of war off our streets” in the wake of a shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“For the lives we’ve lost and the lives we can save, I took historic action to stop gun violence in our nation, including signing the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years,” Biden said in a statement Friday, pointing to a gun safety package that passed on a bipartisan basis in June. “But we must do more. We must pass an assault weapons ban.”
Biden noted that the North Carolina shooting, where at least five people were killed and others were injured, is just the latest in a string of mass shootings this year that have shaken the nation – from Uvalde, Texas, to Buffalo, New York.
Biden decried the mass shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday.
“Enough. We’ve grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings,” Biden said in a statement.
“Too many families have had spouses, parents, and children taken from them forever,” he continued. “There are too many mass shootings across America, including ones that don’t even make the national news.”
Raleigh police have identified five victims of the shooting that occurred in a residential neighborhood on Thursday evening, including an off-duty police officer. Two other people were wounded, including another officer.
The suspect, described as a 15-year-old White male, was taken into custody on Thursday night and is said to have been in critical condition.
More details about the identity of the shooter have not been released due to his age.
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin tweeted Friday afternoon that “there are several families in our community who woke up this morning without their loved ones.”
“We grieve with them today,” Baldwin wrote. “No family should ever have to feel this pain.”
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has ordered flags flown at half-staff to “mourn the victims killed in a horrific and infuriating act of violence.”
Gun violence has led to nearly 35,000 deaths across the United States so far this year, according to the latest data from Gun Violence Archive. — NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES
