After a gunman killed 18 people in Maine, President Joe Biden issued a statement calling for more gun control measures, prompting a Second Amendment advocacy group to denounce his remarks as a “disgusting politicization of a tragedy.”
The suspect in Wednesday night’s mass shooting in Lewiston is Robert Card, who at the time of reporting remained at large as authorities searched forests, waterways, and small towns while many Maine residents sheltered in place.
Police said Mr. Card, a U.S. Army reservist, should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached, while arrest warrants were issued for him for eight counts of murder.
Maine State Police Col. William Ross told a press conference on Thursday morning that “the reason it’s eight counts is because ten people have not yet been identified.”
Police said that mental health issues may have been a factor.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills vowed to do everything necessary to catch Mr. Card and “seek full justice for the victims and their families.”
Elsewhere, President Biden ordered the flag to be flown at half-staff at the White House and expressed condolences to the families of the victims—and then used the opportunity to push for more gun control.
‘Simply Not Enough’
In his statement, President Biden said the country was in mourning after yet another mass shooting.
It was the 36th mass killing in the United States so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and Northeastern.
“Far too many Americans have now had a family member killed or injured as a result of gun violence. That is not normal, and we cannot accept it,” the president said.
He then switched focus to gun control laws, touting the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that he signed into law, as well as the two dozen or so executive actions he’s taken restricting firearm ownership.
He also mentioned the recent establishment of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, before adding that all these measures are “simply not enough.”
He then urged Republican lawmakers to work with Democrats to adopt new gun control legislation.
“Today, in the wake of yet another tragedy, I urge Republican lawmakers in Congress to fulfill their duty to protect the American people,” he said.
“Work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers,” he added.
Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement of her own, adding “red flag” laws to the list.
And then White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre signal-boosted her bosses’ call for tougher gun laws, telling a press conference that “now is the time to find common ground” on passing more laws to “keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous individuals who have no business being armed with a weapon of war.”
While Ms. Jean-Pierre did not elaborate on what she meant by “weapons of war,” her remarks (and those of her bosses) were met with a critical reaction by Second Amendment advocates.
‘Another Disgusting Politicization’
The Gun Owners of America, a gun rights advocacy group, took to social media to denounce what it saw as the Biden administration exploiting a tragedy for political ends.
“Another disgusting politicization of a tragedy by the Biden Administration,” the group said in a post on X.
“NONE of these gun control measures would stop a murderer intent on committing heinous acts of mass public violence,” it added.
Surveillance images of the gunman show that he was carrying what appears to be an AR-type rifle, which President Biden and others have often labeled as an “assault weapon.”
However, FBI data on the types of weapons used in homicides in America show that rifles account for less than 3 percent of murders, with knives and other cutting instruments accounting for over 10 percent.
Gun rights advocates generally acknowledge the tragic number of people killed each year using guns, which is roughly 10,000. But they also argue that gun control activists focus almost exclusively on the tragic numbers of deaths while ignoring the many more lives saved by guns.
According to the 2021 National Firearms Survey (pdf) published by Georgetown University, there were an estimated 1.67 million instances in which a person used a firearm in defense of self or others.
Even though handguns are the most common type of firearm used for self-defense, AR-15s or similarly styled rifles have been owned by over 30 percent of gun owners, or around 24.6 million individuals.
Last year, after a mass shooting at a Walmart in Virginia, President Biden called for “much stricter gun laws,” saying he planned to push a ban on “assault weapons” and calling the idea of allowing “semiautomatic weapons” to be available for purchase “sick.”
As for adopting red flag laws (also known as extreme risk protection orders, or ERPO) which President Biden once again called for on Thursday, the evidence of their utility appears largely inconclusive.
While some studies, like one from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (pdf) and another from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, claim that ERPOs can help reduce suicides and mass shootings, research from the RAND Corporation found the evidence inconclusive.
While gun control advocates have touted red-flag laws as a powerful tool to reduce violent crime, gun rights advocates have argued that such laws won’t be effective at reducing crime but will only make law-abiding citizens more vulnerable by reducing their access to tools they can use to defend themselves and their families.
“You’re taking away someone’s property and means of self-defense,” Richard Mack, a former Arizona sheriff who heads the pro-gun Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, told PBS.
Others argue the problem isn’t guns but the lack of institutionalization of the mentally ill.
“The reality is that absent institutionalization of disturbed individuals, such persons presenting actual threats to society will remain a threat even after seizing their firearms, as they will still have the ability to use a knife, motor vehicle, or countless other potentially lethal items to commit mass murder,” some two dozen conservative South Dakota lawmakers wrote in a 2019 letter advocating against red-flag laws.
Response from Bidet right on cue. Gun control laws have no meaning to those out to commit a shooting. If Biteme and the dems had their way, there would be no guns in private homes in this country just like in Israel for people to use for protection. How did that work out for the Israelis? Israel is now looking at relaxing their gun control restrictions. If American citizens were stripped of their guns, rest assured, that the dems would soon resemble Hamas.
“Biden Pushes More Gun Restrictions After Maine Mass Shooting”
Of course the sock-puppet president Joe Beijing Biden does.
He obediently obeys his masters and says and does whatever he is told by his treasonous masters.
That’s been the left’s GO TO TACTIC’ for decades.. WHINE ABOUT NEEDING YET MORE ANTI GUN regulations, after every mass shooting. IN SOME CASES they don’t even wait till the bodies are cold, before whining “WE NEED common sense gun regulation”..
BUT yet again, THIS MASS shooter, was a KNOWN NUTTER, made remarks IN PUBLIC about wanting to shoot up xyz, and NOT a god damn thing was done to STOP him from getting guns, OR TO STRIP HIM OF the ones he already had!
NO NEW regulations will stop a shooter, when we have masses upon masses of MISTAKES like this, that let these crazies, keep their guns.
What is needed is PEOPLE CONTROL, not Gun control. The guns do not go off by themselves, criminals and crazy folks pull those triggers.
And note, yet again on que, IS this guy is a WELL KNOWN NUTSO… SO maybe we need CRAZY PERSON control…
Uvalde shooter… mentally ill
Parkland shooter… mentally ill
El Passo shooter… mentally ill
Lewistown shooter…mentally ill
Nashville shooter… mentally ill
Fort Hood shooter… mentally ill
Sandy Hook shooter.mentally ill
VA Tech shooter… mentally ill
Liberals… America has a gun problem!
FACTS mean nothing to liberals…
never have, never will.
I have watched & lived thru the Dem Party authorities & elected officials nation wide refusal to protect citizens, govt institutions & SC Justices, businesses or even police officers from terrorist threats, personal injury & property destruction by the violent mobs of antifa, BLM, pro abortion baby killers & now the rabid mobs brazenly supporting Islam terrorist butchery to annihilate Israel & Jews worldwide.
Until & unless US authorities do something to prevent mobs of anarchists &/or Islam terrorism supporters from forming & taking over the streets, I think every household should be able to own firearms, including semi auto rifles & tear gas.
No justifiable reason why citizens shouldn’t use guns to protect themselves from being beaten to death or severely injured by a mob / gang.
People in US & other Western nations who protest in support of Islam butchery & slaughter of Jews & sacrifice of their own people as human shields are people who have no problem with supporting abuse & slaughter of people anywhere who offend or disagree with their ideology, political & social.
THat’s the thing. THE AUTHORITIES DON’T want us to be able to defend ourselves, from THEIR USEFUL MASSES, as they riot, loot and the like. AS THEY are the ones SUPPORTING these mobs.
Saw VP Harris touting Australia gun control & restrictions.
It’s worth noting that Australia does not have, & likely would never tolerate & turn a legal blind eye to flash mob thievery, rampant gang & street crime, black on black mass murder with hand guns, BLM / antifa anarchy , terrorism in any form or refuse to prosecute criminals based on skin color.
Maybe this is because Australia is majority (about 75%) white English speaking Christian & is very restrictive on migration so they don’t so far have multi languages / cultures or the almost always belligerent race or Islam activism causing constant civil disorder & unrest to contend with.
WIth how libtard ridden Australia has become, i wouldn’t say they “WOULD NOT tolerate that”..