On the third anniversary of the Parkland school shooting, President Joe Biden called on Congress to implement “commonsense gun law reforms.”
On Sunday, Biden made remarks about the horrific 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“Three years ago today, a lone gunman took the lives of 14 students and three educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida,” Biden said in a statement. “In seconds, the lives of dozens of families, and the life of an American community, were changed forever.”
Biden called for gun control.
“This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call,” the president stated. “We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer.”
“Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets,” Biden declared. “We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also marked the anniversary of the tragedy by detailing how Democrats would enact gun control measures in Congress.
Pelosi proclaimed, “Today, we continue to grieve and work with the Parkland families and survivors who have turned their pain into courageous action, inspiring a movement across the country to say, ‘Enough is enough!’
“Last Congress, moved by the daily epidemic of gun violence and guided by the millions of young people marching for their lives, House Democrats took bold action to save lives and end the bloodshed by passing H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act,” Pelosi said in a statement on Sunday.
“Now, working with the Democratic Senate and Biden-Harris Administration, we will enact these and other life-saving bills and deliver the progress that the Parkland community and the American people deserve and demand,” Pelosi claimed.
To commemorate the lives lost from the Parkland shooting, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags to be flown at half-mast on Sunday. The Republican governor also implored Floridians to join him in a “moment of silence” at 3 p.m. in remembrance of the lives lost in the shooting.
DeSantis asked the country to mourn the lives of the victims, “Whereas, our state and nation continue to mourn and will always remember the lives of Alyssa Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Duque Anguiano, Nicholas Dworet, Aaron Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup and Peter Wang.”
The Parkland school shooting perpetrator is still awaiting trial.
“The case could have been all over by now. [The alleged shooter’s] lawyers have repeatedly said he would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. But prosecutors won’t budge on seeking the death penalty at trial,” the Associated Press reported.
