Day 78: Biden Goes for Gun Control

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden spoke today about the “epidemic” of gun violence in the United States, calling it a public health crisis and laying out steps the administration is taking to fund prevention programs across several agencies.

“Nothing I’m about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment,” Biden assured via press conference at the Rose Garden today, before an audience that included survivors of gun violence.

“Every day in this country, 316 people are shot. Every single day,” he continued, noting that it disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities. “A hundred and six of them die every day. Our flag was still flying at half-staff for the victims of the horrific murder of 8 primarily Asian American people in Georgia when 10 more lives were taken in a mass murder in Colorado.

“You probably didn’t hear it, but between those two incidents, less than one week apart, there were more than 850 additional shootings — 850 — that took the lives of more than 250 people, and left 500 — 500 — injured. This is an epidemic, for God’s sake. And it has to stop.”

“People on both sides of the aisle want action,” Harris said. “Real people, on both sides of the aisle, want action.”

Their plan includes reviews of policies on “ghost guns,” modified weapons and assault weapons; multi-agency funding for gun violence interruption and prevention programs at the Departments of Justice, Labor and Education; and an urging for Congress to pass bills on background checks.

Racism, too, is a public health crisis, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention declared today. “[T]he pandemic illuminated inequities that have existed for generations and revealed for all of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic impacting public health: racism,” Director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said via statement.

She cites an interactive map of some 170 declarations of around the nation of racism as a health crisis or emergency, including Washington, D.C. where the Council made the announcement in December.

“What we know is this: racism is a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans,” Walensky expounded. “As a result, it affects the health of our entire nation.”

The agency plans to launch its own specialized website to host scientific discussions on the impact of racism and intends to expand internal efforts to develop a more inclusive and diverse workplace.

“I know that we can meet this challenge,” she said. “I know that we can create an America where all people have the opportunity to live a healthy life.”

Gun laws (and the issue of racism) in the District has long been a standoff between locally elected leaders and Congress.