On Politics

Mon May 15 2023

Hi there, OnPolitics readers. President Joe Biden is calling on state lawmakers to strengthen gun laws to help combat mass shootings. Let's get into what he said.

In a USA TODAY op-ed published yesterday, Biden said he will urge governors and other state lawmakers to strengthen gun background checks on buyers under 21 years old and enact laws that would give the federal background check system "access to all records that could prohibit someone under age 21 from purchasing a firearm."

Biden's comments coincide with the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., where a white 19-year-old gunman killed 10 Black people at a supermarket.

What this means: Biden is turning to the state level and officials to address mass shootings after failing to get Congress to pass major federal gun reform.

Why is this important?: In the year since the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., Biden has been forced to confront mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas; Monterey Park, Calif.; Michigan State University; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; Dadeville Ala.; and most recently, Allen, Texas, among many other places, reporter Joey Garrison writes.

Bottom line: This is Biden's latest move to try and combat mass shootings as his repeated calls for Congress to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons has gone nowhere. Biden says he has exhausted the "full extent of my executive authority" on gun control reform.

👁️‍🗨️ Keep reading: Biden calls on states to strengthen background checks on young buyers in USA TODAY op-ed

🚨 ICYMI: President Biden says 'no rationale for assault weapons' after Michigan State University shooting

📨 Get newsletter in your inbox: Don't miss our politics coverage. Sign up for OnPolitics.

Texas in charge? Did SCOTUS let red, blue states set national agenda?

Demonstrators with PETA gather outside the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on May 11, 2023 upheld a California animal welfare law that bans the sale in America's most-populous state of pork from pigs raised in confined conditions.

Some experts say a Supreme Court decision upholding a California animal-welfare law may give states more power to impose their will on other states.

READ MORE

President Joe Biden and a soldier on April 29, 2021, in Fort Benning, Georgia.

Erasing the Confederacy: Army changes names of iconic military bases

The Army continues to erase Confederate names from its bases as Fort Cavazos and Fort Moore replace Fort Benning and Fort Hood.

READ MORE

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis talks with reporters after speaking at a fundraising picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, Saturday, May 13, 2023, in Sioux Center, Iowa.

DeSantis came to Iowa; Trump didn't. But both make presence felt.

Ex-President Donald Trump canceled a planned outdoor rally in Iowa Saturday amid a tornado watch, but his presence in race loomed at DeSantis' events.

READ MORE