President Biden shared his condolences with families of ten victims of the mass shooting in a Boulder supermarket, as he urged Congress to pass gun-reform legislation, including a ban on assault weapons.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future,” Biden said at the White House.
Former President Obama also added a statement on Facebook.
The House of Representatives passed two gun reform proposals this month, one to extend the window for completing a background check before a gun sale and a second that would extend background checks to all sales and transfers. However, the second bill provides exemptions including for transfers between family members, responding to an immediate threat or temporary transfer for hunting.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Tuesday that he does not support House-passed legislation to expand background checks to all gun sales. “What the House passed? Not at all,” Manchin said, when asked if he supports the legislation.
Manchin said he prefers a broader provision for sales between people who know each other.
“I come from a gun culture. I’m a law-abiding gun owner,” Manchin said, adding that he supports “basically saying that commercial transactions should be background checked. You don’t know a person.”
“If I know a person, no,” Manchin said.
From The Hill