White House tells GOP to ‘look in the mirror’ after Nashville shooting
Katherine Doyle
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The White House defended President Joe Biden’s claim that he has exhausted all executive options on gun control after a promise last year to “count votes” for an attempt to pass an assault-style weapons ban.
Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president believes semiautomatic rifles “are weapons of war and they should not be on the streets, across the country in our communities.” She added he would welcome a bill to restrict firearms but that it must come from lawmakers. She called on congressional Republicans to “look in the mirror.”
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“We all know how government works,” Jean-Pierre said. “There’s only so much that he can do, and so now it’s time for Congress to do the work. He’s happy to sign that legislation that says, OK, we’re going to remove assault weapons — we’re going to have an assault weapons ban.”
Biden has said voters want gun control but that his hands are tied by lawmakers.
“The reason that there’s no assault weapons ban is not because of this president. It’s not because of Democrats in Congress,” Jean-Pierre added. “Republicans in Congress need to look in the mirror.”
Asked about Biden’s pledge, Jean-Pierre demurred.
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“The president has had more executive actions on dealing with gun violence than any other president in history,” she said, adding that he had “used every tool that he can on the federal level.”
Biden called the shooting “sick” in remarks this week after a 28-year-old opened fire with two assault-style rifles and a handgun on Monday at the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville.
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