Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2022

October 14, 2022

Jill and I are grieving with the families in Raleigh, North Carolina, whose loved ones were killed and wounded in yet another mass shooting in America. We are thinking of yet another community shaken and shattered as they mourn the loss of friends and neighbors, including an off-duty police officer.

As we mourn with the people of Raleigh, we are grateful for the law enforcement and other first responders, including Federal law enforcement who were on the scene last night and into this morning. My administration is working closely with Governor Cooper to assist local authorities in this investigation to the fullest extent needed.

Enough. We've grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings. Too many families have had spouses, parents, and children taken from them forever. This year, and even in just the 5 months since Buffalo and Uvalde, there are too many mass shootings across America, including ones that don't even make the national news.

For the lives we've lost and the lives we can save, I took historic action to stop gun violence in our Nation, including signing the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years. But we must do more. We must pass an assault weapons ban. The American people support this commonsense action to get weapons of war off our streets. House Democrats have already passed it. The Senate should do the same. Send it to my desk, and I'll sign it.

May God bless our fellow Americans we lost and their families, and may He grant the wounded the strength to recover in Raleigh, North Carolina.

NOTE: The statement referred to Gabriel Torres, police officer, Raleigh Police Department, who was killed, along with Nicole Conners, Susan Karnatz, Mary Marshall, and James Thompson, in the shooting on October 13; Gov. Roy A. Cooper III of North Carolina; and Marcille "Lynn" Gardner and Raleigh Police Ofc. Casey Clark, who were wounded in the shooting. It also referred to H.R. 1808.

Categories: Statements by the President : Raleigh, NC, shooting.

Names: Biden, Jill T.; Clark, Casey; Conners, Nicole; Cooper, Roy A., III; Gardner, Marcille "Lynn"; Karnatz, Susan; Marshall, Mary; Thompson, James; Torres, Gabriel.

Subjects: Law enforcement and crime : Gun violence, prevention efforts; Legislation, proposed : Assault Weapons Ban of 2022; New York : Buffalo :: Shooting; North Carolina : Governor; North Carolina : Shooting in Raleigh; Texas : Uvalde :: Shooting.

DCPD Number: DCPD202200921.

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