A woman is consoled after 10 people are killed in a Boulder, Colorado supermarket, March 22, 2021 (Michael Ciaglo/USA Today)

President Joe Biden calls for a ban on assault weapons, following mass killings in Boulder, Colorado and Atlanta, Georgia.

Saying “I don’t need another hour, another minute to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future”, Biden also asked the Senate to close loopholes on background checks.

The House has already passed the measures.

On Monday 10 people, including a police officer, were shot dead at a Boulder grocery store. On March 16, a gunman killed eight people, including six Asian American women, at three spas in Atlanta.

“This is not and should not be a partisan issue — it is an American issue,” Biden said. “We have to act.”

Republicans Object to Any Action

Republican legislators immediately balked at any measures.

John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking GOP Senator, said, “There’s not a big appetite among our members to do things that would appear to be addressing it, but actually don’t do anything to fix the problem.”

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a possible Presidential candidate in 2024, called the measures to limit killings “ridiculous theater” and insisted gun control “makes [the situation] worse”.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut noted, “It is time for us to do something.”

But Cruz declared: “What happens in this committee after every mass shooting is Democrats propose taking away guns from law abiding citizens because that’s their political objective.”

In September 1994, Congress banned some classes of semi-automatic firearms and large capacity ammunition magazines. Republican legislators blocked all attempts to renew the ban when it expired in 2004.

Biden concluded yesterday:

I want to be clear. Those poor folks who died left behind families, leaving a great big hole in their hearts. We can save lives.