Biden to Champion Gun Safety Amid Son's Legal Troubles

Joe Biden has had a challenging first year as US president. Photo Credit: AP

President Joe Biden will address gun safety and his administration's efforts to curb gun violence in a speech at a major annual conference on Tuesday, just hours after his son was convicted on federal gun charges in Delaware.

Biden is scheduled to speak at Everytown for Gun Safety's annual training event, Gun Sense University, at 1:30 p.m. ET in Washington. This conference gathers volunteers and survivors of gun violence from across the nation to exchange best practices, engage in training sessions on effective organizing, and gear up for future initiatives.

President Biden is set to address gun safety and his administration's steps to reduce gun violence in a speech — hours after his son was found guilty on unrelated gun-related charges. https://t.co/gtYBWrOZhK

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 11, 2024

Ahead of the president's speech, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign released a memo highlighting their achievements in reducing gun violence. "Fighting for a safer America — an America that does its part to save more lives from gun violence — is on the ballot this November," emphasized campaign senior spokesperson Kevin Munoz.

The memo points out that Biden has "signed the most significant federal bipartisan gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years," which targets gun traffickers, expands federal background checks, combats untraceable ghost guns, and closes background check loopholes. It also attributes the largest increase in violence in American history to former President Donald Trump’s firm support of the NRA and his opposition to gun control measures, which the memo claims resulted in "20,000 more people dead by gun violence."

Munoz underscored the campaign's commitment to gun control. Last Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a gun violence prevention event in Maryland with Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks. In conjunction with the second anniversary of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, the campaign released an ad targeting Latino voters in key battleground states. The campaign has also organized numerous events and news conferences with students, survivors, and officials nationwide to address the issue of gun violence.

Reducing gun violence has been a focal point of Biden’s presidency. In his March State of the Union address, he stressed this issue to Congress. "My predecessor told the NRA he’s proud he did nothing on guns when he was President. After another school shooting in Iowa he said we should just 'get over it.' I say we must stop it," Biden declared. "I’m proud we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years! Now we must beat the NRA again! I’m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines! Pass universal background checks! None of this violates the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners."