Biden calls for tighter gun control measures after holiday weekend shootings

President Biden issued a demand for tougher firearm restrictions Tuesday after a string of deadly shootings unfolded across the country over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Biden, 80, called for action while also marking the anniversary of last year’s July 4th parade massacre in Highland Park, Ill., in which seven people were slaughtered.

“Over the last few days, our nation has once again endured a wave of tragic and senseless shootings in communities across America — from Philadelphia to Fort Worth, Baltimore to Lansing, Wichita to Chicago,” the president said in a statement issued by the White House.

“Today, Jill and I grieve for those who have lost their lives and, as our nation celebrates Independence Day, we pray for the day when our communities will be free from gun violence.”

Among the violence that marred the holiday weekend, four men were killed and two children were wounded when a gunman wearing a ballistic vest opened fire on them in Philadelphia Monday night.

In Baltimore, two people were left dead and 28 wounded after a duo unleashed a hail of gunfire at a block party on Sunday night.

And at least three people were killed and 27 others injured — including a 5-year-old girl and an 85-year-old man — during a spate of weekend shootings across Chicago.

The string of shootings unfolded a year after Highland Park gunman Robert Crimo pumped more than 80 rounds of bullets with a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle into the parade crowd outside Chicago, killing seven and injuring 48. 

“In mere moments, this day of patriotic pride became a scene of pain and tragedy,” Biden said of last year’s massacre.

In the year since, the President noted, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, and gun violence survivors had “fought tirelessly” to secure a statewide ban on assault weapons — which became law in January.

“Their achievement will save lives. But it will not erase their grief. It will not bring back the seven Americans killed in Highland Park or heal the injuries and trauma that scores of others will continue to carry,” Biden said.

“And as we have seen over the last few days, much more must be done in Illinois and across America to address the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart.”

Biden called on other states to follow Illinois’ lead, as well as Republican lawmakers in Congress to agree to what he described as “commonsense reforms.”

“It is within our power to once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to require safe storage of guns, to end gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and to enact universal background checks,” he said.

The President has repeatedly called for an assault weapon ban to follow up on the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which he signed into law last year, weeks after a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. That law calls for enhanced background checks on the youngest gun buyers, provides millions in funding for mental health services, and gives states incentives to pass so-called “red flag” laws, which create processes to confiscate guns from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.