Following the 199th mass shooting of this year, which saw 8 people horrifically killed at a Texas shopping mall Saturday, President Joe Biden said that he would “immediately” sign gun control legislation if Congress puts it on his desk. “Too many families have empty chairs at their dinner tables,” Biden said in a statement Sunday. “Republican Members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough.” Biden signed an executive order expanding background checks for gun purchases back in March, following a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California that killed 11. His plea to Congress comes amid a violent first week of May, which has seen 12 mass shootings in just a five-day span. “Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” Biden’s statement continued. “Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”
