LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — “Too many Americans have lost loved ones or survived the trauma of gun violence,” President Joe Biden said in a speech Friday in Lewiston, Maine.
The president, accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden, was in Lewiston mourning with the community shattered by tragedy. On Oct. 25, Robert Card, 40, killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in a mass shooting event in the city. An intensive days-long manhunt for Card ended when he was found dead, likely from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Biden addressing the community stressed the need to end gun violence.
“Regardless of our politics, this is about protecting our freedom to go to a bowling alley, a restaurant, a school or a church without being shot and killed,” he said.
One gun rights advocate here in Michigan said a balance can be had between preventing gun violence and constitutional rights.
“Gun safety is an achievable goal without interfering in the Second Amendment rights of anybody,” says Jonathan Gold, Michigan President of Gifford’s Gun Owners for Safety. That’s an organization started by former Arizona Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She was the victim of a shooting while in office and she has since dedicated herself to champion action on gun violence.
“It’s wonderful to have a president who believes in gun safety and is a compassionate leader who cares about both the victims and survivors who are traumatized by gun violence,” Gold said.
Gold says he’s content with new gun legislation passed here in the state–as they don’t infringe on his rights and that maintaining this kind of lawmaking is good for both sides of the aisle.
“We just passed a whole series of laws here in Michigan,” he says. “None of these laws have interfered with my Second Amendment rights and if they had I would have had a problem with them.”
According to the gun violence archive, there have been at least 588 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year.
Last year, President Biden created the first-ever white house office of Gun Violence Prevention and he’s pushing for a ban on so-called assault weapons.
