Joe Biden calls on congress to pass gun law reforms

The US president marks the anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, with a call for ‘commonsense’ gun law reforms.

Students comfort each other before a candlelight vigil for victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Picture: AFP

US President Joe Biden has called on congress to enact “commonsense” gun law reforms, three years after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“This administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call,” Mr Biden said in a statement marking the Valentine’s Day shooting in 2018 that left 17 people dead and brought fresh attention to America’s lax gun laws.

“We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer.”

Mr Biden wants congress to pass laws that would require background checks on all gun sales and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, who was 19 at the time, was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and fired between 100 and 150 rounds in a rampage that killed 14 students and three adult staff at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Mr Biden said congress must also eliminate “immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets”. Cruz was able to buy the assault rifle legally, despite having known mental health problems.

The Republican-controlled Senate at the time blocked legislation approved by the Democrats in the House of Representatives

AFP