Joe Biden Inaugurates Firearm Violence Prevention Office At White House

United States President Joe Biden. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

HOUSTON - United States President Joe Biden inaugurated the White House's Arms Violence Prevention Office for the first time to resolve an epidemic of death from an unreasonable US shooting.

"Weapons are the number one child killer in the US, more than car accidents, more than cancer, more than disease," Biden said at a White House press conference, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, September 24.

Biden mengungkapkan statstas kekerasan oleh senjata yang mengkhawatirkan pada tahun ini saja.

"So far, during 2023, our country has experienced more than 500 mass shootings and more than 30 thousand gun deaths," Biden said, "This is unacceptable. It's not us and we have to act and we have to act now."

"The shooting was a major storm that hit the community." he continued.

Biden said that the office was formed through an executive order aimed at accelerating the implementation of the More Secure Bipartisan Community Act passed by Congress last year.

This office will later coordinate to provide support for survivors, families and communities affected by gun violence including mental health services and financial assistance.

In addition, the office will also identify new executive actions that the government can take legally to reduce armed violence, and expand partner coalitions in states and cities across America to pass weapons safety laws at the local level.

Biden said that cracking down on homemade firearms, cutting off arms trafficking networks, making universal background checks and requiring safe storage of firearms is a combination of rules that will contribute to reducing armed violence.

He also promised to continue his efforts to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

These measures will not resolve the entire epidemic of gun violence, but if combined, these measures will save lives, Biden said.

Meanwhile Vice President Kamala Harris will be responsible for overseeing the new office, given her experience as a former prosecutor, attorney general, and US senator who consistently advocates for the prevention of gun violence.

"In our country today, one in five people lost family members due to gun violence. Every day, about 120 Americans die from weapons," Harris said. "We cannot normalize this situation. These are not just statistics. These are our children, our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers."

Harris said it was a wrong idea to make Americans have to choose between supporting the rights of the Second Amendment to the Constitution to carry weapons or passing a reasonable gun security law and emphasizing that a reasonable solution can be found by both parties in the issue of weapons.

"With this new office, we will use the full powers of the federal government to strengthen the coalition between survivors, advocacy, students, teachers, and elected leaders to save lives and fight for everyone's right to be able to live safely from fear and they can live a life where they understand that they are supported by that desire and right," Harris said.

"We owe it to those and those who live in fear, to act without delay, and in this matter, we have no free time or lives left." he added.