One study found that if a ban had existed from 2005 to 2019, it would have saved 339 lives.
Yet another horrific mass shooting has stolen innocent lives in America, this time at a bank in downtown Louisville, where four people were killed on April 10. The tragic incident had something in common with many other similar incidents in our country: The shooter used an AR-15-style assault rifle, which was also the weapon of choice in shootings including Sandy Hook, Aurora, and beyond.
In response, President Joe Biden yet again called for legislative action to heighten gun control in our country: “Too many Americans are paying for the price of inaction with their lives. When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?” Biden said Monday.
The president issued similar words at the end of March, when six people, including three 9-year-old children, were killed in a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. After that massacre, Biden called on Congress to ban assault weapons, which actually was the law of the land once upon a time. We’re taking a closer look at how the policy could help save lives.
The new push for an assault weapons ban
Biden’s request is nothing new: He’s actually called to ban assault weapons 70 times since taking office in 2021, and you’ll definitely remember the urgency in his words after 21 people were killed last year at a school in Uvalde, Texas. But as he told reporters following the shooting in Nashville, this step forward requires a literal act of Congress: “I have gone the full extent of my executive authority to do, on my own, anything about guns,” the president said.
The U.S. actually did previously have this ban in place. Biden helped pass it when he was a senator in 1994; it expired 10 years later. But during that period, it did make a difference. One study found that mass shooting deaths were 70 percent less likely to occur in the decade when the policy was in effect. Another study concluded that if the ban had existed from 2005 to 2019, it would have saved 339 lives.
Most Americans — including 86 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of Republicans — agree that the country needs to restrict these firearms, according to a 2022 survey. Democrats tried and failed to pass a ban last year, when they held majorities in both houses of Congress. Now that Republicans control the House, chances are slim that lawmakers will prohibit these weapons. And Biden knows his hands are tied.
“People say, ‘Why do I keep saying this if it’s not happening?’” he said of his frequent appeals. “Because I want you to know who isn’t doing it, who isn’t helping, to put pressure on them.”
What you can do to pass an assault weapons ban
You may have noticed a video on Katie’s Instagram profile recently in which she called her representatives to voice her support for common sense gun reform, including universal background checks and an assault weapons ban. It took her a total of seven minutes.
Instead of continuing to scroll through social media posts for 5 or 10 more minutes, set that time aside to make a call yourself. (And if that pesky friend bugs you about dodging their call today, you can say you were busy calling your local representatives in an attempt to enact meaningful change.) If you feel passionately about preventing these senseless deaths, call your local representatives and let them know. You can use this simple tool to find out how to call their offices directly, or simply dial the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected with any member of the House or Senate.
Not sure what to say? Katie walks you through it in the video below.
