Biden renews call to ban AR-15 rifles after Trump assassination attempt

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden renewed his call for stronger gun control Tuesday following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump after staying quiet in the immediate aftermath of the shooting about the AR-15-style gun that nearly killed the former president.

Biden did not mention guns or gun violence during his first three public remarks on Saturday’s shooting including during a primetime Oval Office address Sunday night. But in a speech Tuesday in Las Vegas at the NAACP National Convention, Biden finally did − declaring it’s time to ban assault weapons like the one used in the shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pa.

“An AR-15 was used in the shooting of Donald Trump, just as it was assault weapons that killed so many others including children. It’s time to outlaw them,” Biden said, drawing applause from supporters.

More: Trump’s would-be assassin had little time to prepare – and left little trace of plot

Throughout his three and a half years in office, Biden has responded to the nation’s gun massacres by reviving calls for stronger gun laws including reinstating the nation’s ban on assault weapons, which expired in 2004, and requiring background checks on all gun purchases. But the proposals have gone nowhere because of Republican opposition in Congress.

“More children in America die of gunshot wounds than any other reason. That’s stunning and that is sick. And it’s sheer cowardice if we do nothing about it,” Biden said Tuesday. “So if you want to stand against violence in America then join me in getting these weapons of war off the streets of America.”

The gunman at the Trump rally, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, used an AR-15-style gun that was reportedly purchased 11 years ago by his father. Crooks was perched atop the roof of a nearby building about 150 yards from Trump as he fired on the former president, killing one spectator and injuring two others while grazing Trump’s ear with a bullet.

Biden’s calls for gun reform haven’t moved Republicans in Congress

Biden waited three days following the Trump assassination attempt to make his latest appeal on guns. Biden had initially steered clear of an emotional and polarizing debate over guns at a time when he’s called for the nation to “cool down” the temperature in politics.

“Now, just because we must lower the temperature of our politics, it doesn’t mean we have to stop telling the truth,” Biden said in his remarks to NAACP members.

The brand of the gunman’s rifle, a DPMS AR, was similar to one used in the 2015 San Bernardino terrorism attack where a married extremist couple targeted a Christmas party at a banquet hall, killing 14 and wounding another 22.

Following past gun massacres during his presidency, Biden has been quick to renew his gun control push, usually on the day of each shooting.

After a gunman in 2022 used an AR-15-style weapon to massacre 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the president said, “It’s time to turn this pain into action.”

More: AR rifle used in Trump shooting from company with winding history, campaign visit

Biden made a similar plea for “commonsense gun laws” in 2023 when a gunman opened fire on the campus of Michigan State University, killing three people. “’I’m going to say something that’s always controversial: There is no rationale for assault weapons and magazines that hold 50, 70 bullets.”

And after a mass shooting at a Nashville Christian elementary school killed seven, Biden said, “We have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart, ripping at the very soul of the nation.”

Not surprisingly, Republicans have avoided any talk about overhauling gun laws since the Trump assassination attempt.

Republicans, who have long opposed major gun reform, did not focus on access to guns during the second night of the Republican National Convention Tuesday in Milwaukee, which was devoted to the theme “Make America Safe Again.”

In fact, the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, which advocates for gun ownership for safety purposes, promoted an AR-15 giveaway at a table inside the convention.

Another missed moment for change, gun control advocates say

Gun control advocates said they hoped for a larger national discussion about gun reform following the assassination attempt − but have applauded the efforts of Biden.

More: Trump assassination attempt unlikely to have lasting political impact, observers say

“It’s incredibly disheartening that we’re not hearing more calls to talk about the ways in which this shooter was able to really be empowered to shoot the president because of the easy access to a high-powered rifle,” said Christian Heyne, chief policy and programs officer at Brady, a gun violence prevention group. “I do think that the Biden administration has been doing everything they can.”

Brady was named after Jim Brady, press secretary for President Ronald Reagan who was shot and paralyzed during a 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan, who was seriously injured.

“Not only have we allowed it to happen again, but we’re not having an honest conversation about how it was able to take place in the first place,” Heyne said.

Biden launched the Office of Gun Violence Prevention last year to expedite the implementation of several executive actions he’s taken on gun violence and measures in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed in 2022 as the first significant overhaul in federal firearms laws in 30 years.

The law created a $750 million funding pot to incentivize states to create “red flag laws,” which allow police or family members to get a court order that temporarily confiscates firearms from individuals who pose a danger.