Biden renews calls for federal assault weapons ban after string of shootings

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – What should have been a weekend spent celebrating Thanksgiving, for many, was instead a weekend spent mourning lives lost after more mass shootings.

Because of the string of recent mass shootings, including one at a Virginia Walmart on Tuesday, President Joe Biden is again calling for a federal assault weapons ban among other gun control measures.

“The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick,” Biden said.

Following the shootings, President Biden made the case that semi-automatic assault weapons shouldn't be sold, explaining there is “not a single solitary rationale for it, except profit for gun manufacturers.”

Biden also expressed frustration at reports that red flag laws may not have been enforced in the shooting at a Colorado LGBTQ club where the gunman reportedly used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle.

On CBS’ Face the Nation, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said that neither the gunman’s parents nor authorities tried to have the shooter's weapons removed through the use of red flag laws.

“In this case, it wasn't pursued by the local sheriff agency,” Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) said.

Congressional Democrats say a patchwork of differing state laws is part of the problem that allows mass shootings to happen time and time again.

Congressman Bobby Scott says so far in 2022, there have been at least 600 mass shootings in the United States.

“We know we can do better, there's no other country suffers gun violence like America,” Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) said.

Lawmakers have not been in Washington due to the Thanksgiving break, but for years, Republicans have blocked a federal assault weapons ban -- arguing that many weapons are illegally obtained in the first place.

The window for Democrats to pass any additional gun legislation is very small as Republicans are set to take control of the U.S. House in January and face difficulty for new legislation to pass in the next month.