(CNN) – President Joe Biden on Friday marked one year since passing the first major gun safety legislation in a generation during a summit in Connecticut, as gun violence reaches record levels in the United States and the Additional congressional action remains stalled.
Speaking at the National Safe Communities Summit in Connecticut, the president gave an impassioned speech about taking more action to protect communities, arguing that he believes the movement has reached a “tipping point.”
“Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, we all want families to be safe. We all want to drop them off at a house of worship, a mall, a movie, a school gate without worrying that it’s the last time that we will see them. We all want our children to have the freedom to learn and read and write instead of learning to hold and cover in the classroom. And above all, we all agree that we are not done. No we’re done. We’re not done,” Biden said to applause from the packed auditorium.
Last year, Biden signed legislation into law called the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a significant advance on one of the most contentious policy issues. The administration has also implemented two dozen executive actions to try to reduce gun violence. But in the absence of action from Congress, the White House has focused on state action to try to reduce gun violence.
“To me and to most of you, that’s what it really is: it’s an important first step,” Biden said, referring to the gun safety legislation he signed into law last year.
Biden spoke at the University of Hartford, where in 2013 former President Barack Obama delivered remarks following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. Ten years later, gun violence remains a challenging issue for the White House.
“You’ve made your cause a reality. I think we’ve reached a tipping point. Seriously, I swear to God. The people in this room are the big reason we’ve reached this tipping point” , Biden said.
The president, to a standing ovation, also called for Congress to ban assault weapons and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers.
But since the law was signed into law last year, further action on gun violence has stalled in Congress. After three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville in March, Biden said he has done everything he can to address gun control and urged members of Capitol Hill to act.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters Friday that he remains “hopeful” about finding more compromise with Republicans this year, though he acknowledged that additional bipartisan action is far from a guarantee.
“I’m still hopeful that we can get something done with the Republicans this year. But if we can’t, my recommendation to Sen. (Chuck) Schumer will be to put measures on the ground: background checks or assault weapons bans ” said Murphy, who was one of the organizers of the summit.
Biden signed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act on June 25, 2022, in the wake of the horrific shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The law includes millions of dollars for mental health, school safety, crisis intervention programs and incentives for states to include juvenile records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It also made significant changes to the process when someone between the ages of 18 and 21 goes to buy a firearm and closes the so-called boyfriend loophole, a victory for Democrats, who have long fought for it.
Friday’s summit, organized by Murphy and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, along with gun safety groups, aims to highlight last year’s legislation and delve into the policy.
“I think it’s very smart for them to put this together to remind people about this legislation,” said Mark Barden, co-founder and CEO of the Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund. “It’s a good start. We have to keep the momentum going.”
The summit included speeches by local officials and members of the administration, as well as panels, about the legislation’s impact on the ground.
Among the hundreds of people who packed the theater were survivors of gun violence from tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, violence prevention advocates and members of community safety groups like Everytown, Giffords and Moms Demand Action .
“This year’s news is diverse, but not entirely bad. Mass shootings are still constant and that’s horrible. But the broader rates of gun violence in our cities are going down this year for the first time in a long time,” Murphy told CNN. “I know it’s hard for people to see progress, especially when these mass shootings keep happening. “.
Murphy said Friday’s summit, called the National Safer Communities Summit, will help sharpen ongoing work to build a broader movement, while noting how difficult it can be to see progress as the nation continues to grapple with shootings massive
“We are building a movement and you don’t build movements in silos. You have to bring people together to celebrate successes and plan and there is a lot of energy in this room right now,” he said.
The Gun Violence Archive reports that there have been more than 290 mass shootings in the US so far this year, leaving more than 325 people dead and 1,175 injured. Mass shootings have become so common in the United States that the White House has framed its approach as Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hurricane Response.
Behind the scenes, administration officials have been developing ways the federal government can respond in the short and long term after a mass shooting, recognizing the physical, mental and economic ramifications.
White House officials have been sober about the political realities facing Democrats in the current makeup of Congress, where Republicans who control the House have rejected Biden’s calls to ban assault weapons.
Even when both houses of Congress were controlled by Democrats during the first two years of Biden’s term, an assault weapons ban gained little traction, in part because of a 60-vote threshold needed to advance bills in the Senate.
However, the administration is still taking executive action on the issue, including one it announced Friday on new steps to advance mental health initiatives for youth affected by gun violence, an official told CNN.
As part of Friday’s announcement, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Education will work together to address “unprecedented challenges and disruptions to the lives of their schools and communities, including disconnection and social isolation, as well as increased gun violence.”, according to a statement shared with CNN.
According to the administration, the bipartisan Safer Communities Act has so far received $286 million in funding from the Department of Education to expand mental health coverage through mental health professional demonstration and school-based mental health services : an investment that the administration estimates will mean 14,000 additional mental health workers. health professionals in schools.
An additional $1 billion in funding has been awarded through the department’s Stronger Connections grant, which targets high-need districts, and $50 million in funding for before- and after-school programming for to young people
“If we as a people normalize the killing of innocent children, we’ll have bigger problems on our hands. If we as a country care more about selling AR-15s than saving children’s lives, we’ve lost our way. Stop asking if it will happen again. But when and where”, said the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, in passionate statements at the summit on Friday.
And at HHS, an estimated $245 million in funding has been awarded under the act to support youth mental health, with additional funds for school-based mental health programs, staff training and treatment and support services “for individuals and communities affected by trauma.” by armed violence,” the administration said in a statement.
“It is no secret that we are facing a mental health crisis in this country and that our children are suffering,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “The actions announced today will make it easier for schools to receive payment for the mental health services they provide to students affected by gun violence.”
