Joe Biden calls on Congress to strengthen gun reform laws on anniversary of Parkland shooting

17 people in a school in Parkland, Florida were killed when a former student of the school returned with a gun. On Valentine’s Day, Joe Biden also remembered the victims of the massacre while also calling for Congress to strengthen laws surrounding firearms.

Biden reflected on the third anniversary of the Parkland shooting since the horrific incident that occurred on Valentine’s Day in 2018 while asking Congress to strengthen the laws involving firearms. In a statement from the White House, Biden called for the outlawing of high-capacity magazines, mandating background checks on all gun sales, as well as banning assault weapons and making gun manufacturers liable for their products playing a part in gun violence.

Biden also noted that gun violence has affected communities of color the most.

“This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer,” said Biden in the statement. “We owe it to all those we’ve lost and all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered flags statewide to be at half-mast to honor the victims of the shooting. A former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas opened fire on campus with an AF-15 rifle on Valentine’s Day back in 2018. 14 students and three staff members were killed and 17 others were left injured. The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, still awaits trial. While DeSantis noted that a panic alert measure, also known as Alyssa’s Law, named after the 14-year-old student who was killed in the shooting, is now set in place, critics have said that more must be done.

Later this week, Biden and some Congressional Democrats will be introducing their immigration reform bill, according to people familiar with the matter. The bill includes the priorities that Biden has pledged to implement shortly after taking office, including a way for 11 million undocumented immigrants to acquire citizenship while expanding the refugee resettlement programs and deploying the necessary technology at the Southern border. Asylum processing in home countries for minors is also included in the new reform bill, ending the public charger rule, and expanding the benefits for DREAMers.