Biden appeals for tougher gun laws: ‘How much more carnage?’

President Joe Biden

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has delivered an impassioned plea to Congress to act on gun control. In an address to the nation on Thursday night, he called on lawmakers to restore limits on the sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The assault weapons ban of 1994 passed with less than 60 votes in the Senate and was not filibustered. The ban had a sunset provision, which led to its expiration in 2004. Federal lawmakers have not taken such action on gun control again since then.

Biden says that if legislators fail to act, voters should use their “outrage” to turn gun violence into a central issue in November’s midterm elections. Biden is trying to drive up pressure on Congress to pass stricter laws, though such efforts have failed in the wake of past violence.

Biden’s speech follows recent mass shootings in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York.