US, Biden To Congress: Stop Selling Assault Weapons

Following the massacre in Lewiston, Maine, where 18 people were killed, the US is once again talking about the ease of purchasing and owning firearms. As usually, calls multiply and then inexorably fall on deaf ears.

Joe Biden, the US president, has asked congressional Republicans to approve a ban on assault weapons, the same type of weapon used by the Maine killer. It was a military rifle that can be purchased in the USA.

“Another senseless and tragic mass shooting. Too many Americans have had a family member killed or injured by gun violence. This is not normal, and we cannot accept it,” Biden explained, calling on Republicans in Congress to help pass tougher gun laws. The same thing happened after the Newtown massacre, 26 deaths in 2012, when Biden was vice president and tried in vain to change the rules.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, in the first 10 months of 2023, there were 565 shootings with more than four casualties in the USA, and 33 mass shootings. The number of deaths from firearms was 12,714, worse only in Brazil. The FBI estimates there are 300 million guns in private hands in the USA, nearly one for every citizen, and the ease with which they can be acquired is disarming. In addition to specialty stores, individuals can also shop at trade fairs, and some states even have special sectors in supermarkets and allow buying and selling between individuals. Purchasing a gun requires self-certification followed by cross-checking with the FBI – a procedure that, however, does not cover all purchases and has its own loopholes. Omar Mateen, the perpetrator of the 2016 Orlando massacre (49 victims and a hundred wounded), was included (then removed) in the list of “terrorism suspects” several years earlier due to some precedents, which did not prevent him from regularly purchasing pistols, semi-automatic rifles, and numerous ammunitions.