In the context of increasingly serious gun violence in the US, the fact that the US Congress remains deadlocked in passing a gun control bill poses a significant challenge for President Joe Biden's administration in dealing with this issue.
In recent years, the US has been continuously shaken by bloody shootings. Ten days after the shooting in Buffalo, New York, which left 10 people dead, another shooting happened at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 students and two teachers.
According to statistics, from the beginning of the year until now, hot weapons have claimed the lives of 18,000 people in the US, including nearly 10,300 cases of suicide. Over the past three days alone, at least 124 people died and 325 were injured in more than 300 shootings. Notably, gun-related incidents have surpassed traffic accidents as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the US.
Under pressure to act to halt the risk of gun violence, President Joe Biden has pledged to work to push for tighter gun regulations. He called on Congress to ban assault weapons, expand background checks and implement other gun control measures.
The president called for several measures opposed by Republicans in Congress, including banning the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, or, if that were not possible, raising the minimum age to buy those weapons to 21 from 18. He also pressed for repealing the liability shield that protects gun manufacturers from being sued for violence perpetrated by people carrying their guns.
The head of the US government pressed Republicans particularly in the US Senate to allow bills with gun control measures to come up for a vote.
A bipartisan group of senators have come together to discuss a path forward on gun reforms. According to US media, the content of the discussion focused on legislation to raise the age to buy guns or allow police to take guns from people considered to be at risk but did not discuss a complete ban on assault rifles such as those used in the Uvalde massacre or the attack on African Americans at a grocery store in Buffalo (New York). The talks have raised hopes of a rare bipartisan agreement on gun-related issues in Congress.
However, Parliamentarians of the Republican Party, who support the Second Amendment protecting the right of ordinary citizens to own weapons under the US Constitution, have rejected proposals such as banning assault weapons, which are used in many mass shootings in the US.
The stalemate in the US Congress means that the legislature has been largely unresponsive to the increased risk of violence from mass shootings.
"Every day we get closer to an agreement, not farther away," said Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who is working with Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas on a possible deal.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he would give negotiators until at least the end of the week to reach a deal.
According to Senator Cornyn, it takes time to get a bill that reaches a high level of consensus in both the Senate and House and then is signed into law by the President.
The continuous occurrence of gun-related tragedies negatively impacted American social life, raising alarms and creating more pressure on the Biden administration in dealing with the persistently contentious issue of gun control.
