White House on recent gun violence: ‘Enough is enough’

The White House called on Congress to take action to address gun violence in the aftermath of multiple high-profile shootings in the past two days, saying that “enough is enough.” 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that President Biden will “continue to do everything in his power” to reduce gun violence and wants Congress to increase funding for community violence intervention, establish universal background checks and pass legislation banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. 

“Gun violence in this country is an epidemic that will not end with thoughts and prayers alone,” she said. 

Jean-Pierre mentioned a shooting in Newark, N.J., that wounded two police officers and one in Houston that killed the rapper Takeoff from the hip-hop group Migos and injured two others on Tuesday. She said 14 people, including three children, were injured by gunfire in Chicago on Monday, and six were injured and a teenager was killed at a Halloween party shooting in Kansas City. 

“These are only the shootings that made national headlines,” she said. “In other cases, we may not know the names of the victims but we equally mourn with their families and communities.” 

Biden signed major gun reform legislation into law in June in the aftermath of the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The law enhanced background checks for gun buyers aged 18 to 21, made obtaining a firearm through trafficking a federal offense and closed the so-called boyfriend loophole, among other provisions. 

Congress passed the bill after members of both parties reached a bipartisan agreement, but Democrats recognized the legislation as only a step toward addressing gun violence and back additional proposals, such as banning certain firearms and implementing nationwide universal background checks.