America must feel collective 'guilt' for failure to tackle gun violence, Biden says

On the day marking 10 years since the worst-ever shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school, US President Joe Biden said that America must feel collective “guilt” and shame over its inability to tackle incidents of gun violence. “We have a moral obligation to pass and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again,” Biden wrote in a statement to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting where 26 people lost lives, including 20 children, aged 6 and 7.

At the time, Biden was serving as vice president in the former Obama administration. US should feel the collective "societal guilt" for not taking more action to address the gun violence after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Biden stressed.

"I am determined to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those used at Sandy Hook," maintained US President Joe Biden, as he honoured those departed from the tragedy of shootings across the United States. 

"I am determined to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those used at Sandy Hook and countless other mass shootings in America. Enough is enough."

Biden told Americans that he has signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 with hopes of preventing future tragedies and that his administration was striving to implement effective gun control. “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,” he noted in the statement. Further, the US commander-in-chief reiterated that the Biden administration has cracked down on gun trafficking and increased resources for violence prevention. 

“Our obligation is clear," Biden said, adding that Americans must "eliminate these weapons that have no purpose other than to kill people in large numbers.”

'Events like this are hard': Biden on shooting incidents

Last week, Biden made an impassioned national speech at the St Mark’s Episcopal Church, in Washington, D.C., to show support for survivors affected by gun violence. At the annual national vigil, Biden said that "events like this are hard," referring to shooting incidents. "Our work continues to limit the number of bullets that can be in a cartridge, the type of weapon that can be purchased and sold, the attempt to ban assault weapons — a whole range of things," Biden told the families of the gun violence survivors and victims. "That is just common sense.  Just simple common sense," he asserted. 

Biden labels gun violence as "public health epidemic." An estimated 40,000 citizens die as a result of firearm injuries every year in the United States, and some of these deaths and injuries are the result of mass shootings. Others are the result of daily acts of gun violence or suicides. Biden introduced Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in Congress that established the background check system for more than 3 million firearms, but America has been unable to tackle effectively mass shootings.