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Biden demands Congress tighten gun laws in wake of Boulder, Atlanta shootings

23 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

President Biden on Tuesday urged Congress to pass gun control legislation, including two House-approved bills to expand background checks and renewed bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Why it matters: They were some of Biden's most forceful comments on gun control since he was elected, and came in the wake of a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday and a series of shootings in Georgia last week.

What they're saying: "This is not and should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue," Biden said, noting that he had previously helped pass an assault weapons ban while serving in the Senate.

  • While cautioning that the facts of the Boulder shooting are still developing, the president said: "I don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act."
  • "We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country, once again. ... It will save lives, American lives. And we have to act," he added.

The big picture: Ten people died in the Boulder shootings and eight died in Georgia. Both events prompted Biden to order flags lowered to half-staff and have renewed calls for tighter gun regulations in America.

  • The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday hosted a hearing that addressed gun violence in America, with Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) calling gun violence a "public health crisis."
  • Republicans rebuked the notion, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) arguing: "Every time there’s a shooting we play this ridiculous theatre where this committee gets together and proposes a bunch of laws that would do nothing to stop these murders."

Reality check: Any gun control legislation, including the two background check bills passed by the House last week, would need 60 votes to pass in the 50-50 Senate. Biden did not make reference to eliminating the filibuster, which progressives have called on Senate Democrats to do.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.