President Joe Biden reiterated his call to Congress for stricter gun control laws Tuesday afternoon in a separate statement released in response to the five-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting and Monday’s attack at a Michigan university.
“Jill and I are praying for the three students who died and the five students who are fighting for their lives after the shooting at Michigan State University,” he said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the young victims and their families, the wider East Lansing and Lansing communities, and all Americans across the country who are grieving the loss of gun violence.”
The rampage came just one day before the anniversary of the 2018 school shooting Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 people. “In those years, more and more communities have been affected by gun violence,” Biden wrote in a second statement.
Biden said his administration was making progress on implementing gun safety legislation passed last year, and he announced $231 million in funding. for 49 states and territories to support gun safety measures. Among them are “red flag” laws, which allow community members to obtain court orders to restrict access to firearms to potentially dangerous people.
The money will also go to “mental health and substance use treatment courts, and veterans treatment courts,” the president said.
“These funds will reduce gun violence and save lives,” he said.
Elsewhere in the statement, Biden reiterated his call for Congress to “reform public gun laws,” which was part of his State of the Union address last week.
“We have more work to do,” he wrote. The proposed measures would, among other things, ban military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, impose background checks on all gun sales, and remove immunity from gun manufacturers “who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”
“Action is our debt to the grieving people today in Michigan and across America,” he said.
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On Monday night, gunmen opened fire on MSU, killing three people and injuring five others.
Officials said Tuesday that the suspect is 43 years oldwho had previously violated firearms, finally shot and killed himself after hours. The man’s motive is still unknown, and officials have not released details about the weapon or weapons used in the attack.
There have been at least 68 mass shootings so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
In the years since the Parkland shooting, lawmakers have passed no significant legislation on gun reform. Followed last year attacks in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, Congress passed a bipartisan bill that includes modest restrictions on the purchase of guns, as well as funds aimed at improving mental health care and school security.
The law also strengthen background checks for those under the age of 21 and limit violent domestic partners from obtaining firearms.
Although it was the first gun violence prevention law enacted at the federal level in 30 years, activists were dissatisfied with the law and have campaign for more reforms in 2023. Passage of the new legislation is likely to take place in the Republican-dominated House and Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-seat majority.