Biden calls for tougher gun regulations after Charlotte shooting. Will Congress act?

After a shooting in Charlotte killed four law enforcement officers and injured four of their colleagues, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass tougher gun regulations.

“We must do more to protect our law enforcement officers,” Biden said in a statement that came late Monday night. “

He first called for more funding directed to law enforcement. Then, he narrowed his focus in on guns.

“Leaders in Congress need to step up so that we ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of guns, and pass universal background checks and a national red flag law,” Biden said. “Enough is enough.”

An AR-15 and an .40 caliber handgun were both found following the shooting, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings, during a news conference Tuesday.

The shooting

The shooting took place around 1:30 p.m. when the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force attempted to serve warrants at a house on Galway Drive.

A U.S. marshal, two officers from the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections and a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officers were killed. Four others sustained injuries while responding to the shooting.

Law enforcement and the suspect exchanged fire and 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes Jr. was shot. He later died.

Twelve officers are now on leave following the shooting after firing their service weapons, which is standard protocol.

Hughes was wanted for possession of a firearm by a felon and felony flee to elude, two counts, out of Lincoln County, CMPD said.

Two others were taken into custody, and police said during a Monday news conference that they’re fully cooperating with the investigation.

Mass shootings in US this year

Biden’s call for action echos similar remarks he’s made after mass shootings throughout his tenure as president.

In 2022, following a mass shooting in Raleigh that killed five people and injured several others, Biden called for a ban on assault weapons.

Charlotte’s shooting marked the 132 mass shooting in the United States this year, according to gunviolencearchive.org. There has been more than 600 mass shootings, yearly, in the U.S. since 2020.

Gun control legislation

Rep. David Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island, introduced an assault weapons ban bill in the U.S. House on Feb. 1, 2023, with 206 cosponsors, including six of North Carolina’s seven Democrats. It was referred to the judiciary committee but no further action was taken.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, also introduced a similar bill, on Jan. 23, 2023, in the Senate, with 45 cosponsors. It was also referred to the judiciary committee but no further action was taken. She has since died.

For both bills, all of the cosponsors were Democrats, with the exception of Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Members of Congress have also filed bills both in support and opposition to the rest of Biden’s demands for gun legislation, but those have faced similar fates.

Gun legislation

Getting Democrats and Republicans to compromise on gun legislation has proven challenging in the past.

But in 2022, Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Mecklenburg County, worked with Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, to draft the largest gun bill to pass Congress in 30 years.

Tillis and Murphy’s bill was a direct reaction to a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

The 80-page bill focused on expanding mental health care, school safety and background checks for gun sales.

It was met with opposition from Second Amendment supporters.

But Tillis said Tuesday morning lawmakers already put their partisan differences aside and found common ground.

“That is why it is profoundly disappointing that President Biden is using this horrific attack on our brave law enforcement officers to call for gun control measures that would not have prevented this tragedy, given that the murderer was a convicted felon who had no legal right to carry or own a firearm,” Tillis said in a written statement. “Instead of playing partisan politics, President Biden should instead stand with the Fraternal Order of Police and support the Justice for Fallen Law Enforcement Act and the Protect and Serve Act to give federal prosecutors all the tools they need to hold violent criminals fully accountable for targeting, attacking, and killing law enforcement.”

Tillis also sent his condolences to the families of the officers killed and his prayers to those recovering.

“This is a tragic reminder of the dangers law enforcement faces every day, including serving warrants to violent criminals,” Tillis said.

Tillis had said in the past he does not support a semi-automatic weapons ban, and Budd, who owns a gun store and shooting range, voted against Tillis’ bill, staunchly fights against anything he believes infringes on Second Amendment rights.

Budd on social media offered his prayers to the families of the law enforcement officers killed and told both the U.S. Marshals Office and Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department he sends condolences and renewed support.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for Budd’s office responded Biden’s call for stricter gun policy saying: “Senator Budd believes that we should keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals without violating the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners — something President Biden’s warmed over gun-control proposals would fail to do. Instead, President Biden should find the strength to rid his party of the elements that call for defunding police and encourage violence.”

Rep. Alma Adams, a Charlotte Democrat, called for laws to be improved to prevent more shootings like Charlotte’s from happening, saying “our anguish must turn to action.”