Vice President Joe Biden Thursday sought to enlist the assistance of mayors from across the country in support of the administration’s efforts to bring down the rate of gun violence.
Biden, speaking to the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors the day after President Barack Obama unveiled a series of proposals in response to the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, said the need to deal with the epidemic of gun violence in the country was both urgent and immediate.
“The image of first graders, not only shot but riddled with bullets, parents in the streets panicking, trying to find out if a child they put on the bus that morning had any prospect of getting back on the bus and going home that afternoon… I believe, as I’m sure you do, that we have an obligation to respond intelligently to that crisis,” Biden said.
Biden stressed, however, that the national response must go beyond simply issues of mass shootings, saying that the levels of gun violence in the country go “well beyond” what should be tolerated by a civilized nation.
“We hear about mass shootings but not every day gun violence that’s ravaging our cities,” he said. “We can no longer afford to define deviancy down. We can’t wait to take action. The time has come.”
Biden said that in the month since the Newtown shooting, the administration had brought forward the best consensus it could find on steps to reduce gun violence, though he stressed that the primary principle in considering all reforms was respect for the Second Amendment.
“We should make common sense judgments about keeping dangerous weapons off our streets,” he said, noting that such steps would be “clearly within the purview of the government, at the same time recognizing, honoring and being compliant with the Second Amendment.”
He added, “This isn’t just about guns. It’s about the coarsening of our culture … whether it’s with video games or movies or behavior. It’s about the ability to access mental health services and the safety of our schools.”
Such a complex problem, Biden said, would naturally require a complex and comprehensive solution, which he said is what the administration tried to craft.
“I know you folks have a lot of influence in your states … I would ask you to continue to push, push your legislators, push your governors,” Biden said.
He added, “I’ve been in this fight a long time. … I know full well the political obstacles that will be thrown up against us are not impenetrable.”
Biden acknowledged that even the best efforts at the federal, state and local level would not be enough to prevent all violence in the future.
“But that is not an excuse to do nothing,” he said. “As the President said, if we can save even one life, it’s worth it. I believe together we can save a whole lot more lives than that.”
by RTT Staff Writer
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