New Delhi: US President Joe Biden, who on Saturday signed a bill to strengthen federal gun regulations, said several “lives will be saved”. “Their message to us was to do something. Well today, we did,” he said at the White House citing the families of shooting victims, Associated Press reported. Biden said the compromise hammered out by a bipartisan group of senators “doesn’t do everything I want”.
The US President, who was joined by First Lady Jill Biden for the signing, added “it does include actions I’ve long called for that are going to save lives.”
Asserting “there’s much more work to do”, Biden said: “I’m never going to give up, but this is a monumental day.”
Biden, who signed the bill just before he departed Washington for a summit of the Group of Seven leading economic powers — the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — in Germany, said they will host an event on July 11 for the lawmakers and families affected by gun violence.
The US President, who will travel later to Spain for a NATO meeting, signed the measure two days after the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday striking down a New York law that restricted peoples’ ability to carry concealed weapons.
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The House gave final approval to this bill earlier on Friday following its passage in the Senate on Thursday.
The legislation will toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers and keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders.
This legislation will also help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for the authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous.
The signing of this legislation comes in view of a recent series of mass shootings, including the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.