In a recent statement following a devastating shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, President Joe Biden has called on Congress to enact stricter gun control measures.
Kansas City was struck by violence on Wednesday when a shooter opened fire amidst the festivities, resulting in at least 29 individuals receiving medical attention.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves confirmed 22 people were shot, with one succumbing to her injuries. Hospitals told CNN that 19 of the 29 patients are being treated for gunshot wounds.
Three individuals have been detained in relation to the shooting incident.
Joe Biden quickly seized the opportunity to politicize the tragic event.
In a statement, Biden urged Congress to ban “assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them.”
Read his full statement below:
The Super Bowl is the most unifying event in America. Nothing brings more of us together. And the celebration of a Super Bowl win is a moment that brings a joy that can’t be matched to the winning team and their supporters. For this joy to be turned to tragedy today in Kansas City cuts deep in the American soul.
Today’s events should move us, shock us, shame us into acting. What are we waiting for? What else do we need to see? How many more families need to be torn apart?
It is time to act. That’s where I stand. And I ask the country to stand with me. To make your voice heard in Congress so we finally act to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them.
We know what we have to do, we just need the courage to do it.
Today, on a day that marks six years since the Parkland shooting, we learned that three police officers were shot in the line of duty in Washington, DC and another school shooting took place at Benjamin Mays High School in Atlanta. Yesterday marked one year since the shooting at Michigan State University. We’ve now had more mass shootings in 2024 than there have been days in the year.
The epidemic of gun violence is ripping apart families and communities every day. Some make the news. Much of it doesn’t. But all of it is unacceptable. We have to decide who we are as a country. For me, we’re a country where people should have the right to go to school, to go to church, to walk the street — and to attend a Super Bowl celebration — without fear of losing your life to gun violence.
Jill and I pray for those killed and injured today in Kansas City, and for our country to find the resolve to end this senseless epidemic of gun violence tearing us at the seams.
Joe Biden seems to miss the point that criminals don’t follow the legal route to obtain guns; gun laws simply don’t apply to them.
