Biden eyes appearance at national gun violence vigil

President Joe Biden is weighing whether to present remarks astatine the 10th yearly National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence connected Wednesday, conscionable a week earlier the federation volition people a decennary since the Sandy Hook schoolhouse shooting, according to respective radical acquainted with the planning.

Organized by Newtown Action Alliance Fund and partners, arsenic good arsenic 150 families, survivors, students and advocates volition alert successful for the vigil successful Washington, D.C. this week. Members of Congress and their unit were besides invited to be the event, which volition instrumentality spot astatine St. Mark’s Episcopal Church connected Capitol Hill.

As of now, Biden is expected to go, though plans could change. Should helium marque an appearance, Biden volition beryllium the archetypal president to be the vigil, which has taken spot each twelvemonth since 2013. Advocates told POLITICO they presumption the vigil arsenic a accidental for the president to grant the much than 1 cardinal weapon unit victims since Sandy Hook, arsenic good arsenic an accidental for him to item his weapon argumentation priorities for the adjacent year.

“If helium were to go, it would beryllium Biden being Biden, showing up for those affected by the worst imaginable happening and trying to bash what helium tin bash to marque it better,” said Fred Guttenberg, a adjacent Biden state whose girl Jaime was killed successful the Parkland shooting successful 2018.

The White House declined to comment.

Biden has a lengthy grounds successful the weapon unit prevention community. He was the Obama administration’s constituent idiosyncratic connected weapon argumentation aft the Sandy Hook shooting that near 20 first-graders and six educators dead. But nary of the bills to grow inheritance checks, prohibition definite battle rifles and bounds the size of magazines cleared the 60 votes needed to bushed backmost a Senate filibuster astatine the time.

The authorities surrounding weapon authorities person shifted since then, arsenic evidenced by Biden’s weapon argumentation accomplishments arsenic president. Following the shootings successful Buffalo and Uvalde this year, Biden signed the archetypal weapon information measure successful astir 30 years and saw done the bipartisan confirmation of the archetypal manager of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms since 2013.

Biden has continued to trumpet the request for much reforms, including an battle weapons ban, successful the aftermath of continued wide shootings. In November alone, a Walmart worker opened fire, sidesplitting six radical successful a interruption room. Five radical were killed and 18 were injured successful an LGBTQ nightclub successful Colorado Springs. And successful Charlottesville, Va., a erstwhile shot subordinate opened occurrence successful a store aft a tract trip, sidesplitting 3 students.