After Nashville school shooting, Biden says no more unilateral gun control orders available to him
President Biden on Tuesday said he has "done the full extent of my authority" to enact gun control and that Congress "has to act" to ban "assault" weapons after a Nashville school shooting left six dead.
President Biden ruled out further action on gun control from the White House on Tuesday after six people were killed in a deadly mass shooting at a Christian private school in Nashville.
Speaking to reporters before departing Washington, D.C., for North Carolina, the president said he has exhausted his ability to counteract gun violence via executive order and said "the Congress has to act."
"I have gone the full extent of my executive authority, to do on my own, anything about guns," Biden said.
In a familiar refrain following deadly shooting incidents, Biden urged lawmakers to reinstate a federal ban on so-called assault weapons. The1994 law he referenced banned "semiautomatic assault weapons" and "large capacity ammunition feeding devices," which Biden has credited with reducing mass shootings.
NASHVILLE SCHOOL SHOOTING: AUDREY HALE POLICE BODYCAMS RELEASED
President Biden stops to briefly talk with reporters as he departs the White House on March 28, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Biden is traveling to Durham, North Carolina, to tour semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed Inc. and to deliver remarks on his administration's 'Invest in America' agenda. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre, it's a crazy idea. They're against that. And so, I think the Congress should be passing an assault weapons ban," the president said.
"I want to remind you, the last time we passed the assault weapons ban violent shooting went down. Mass shootings went down … I can't do anything except plead with the Congress to act reasonably," he added.
Memorials for the six victims who were killed in a mass shooting are placed outside The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. On Monday, three adults and three children were killed inside the school. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
On Monday, an armed gunman went on a rampage at The Covenant School in Nashville, killing six people.
The victims were identified by police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and 61-year-old Mike Hill. Koonce was the head of school at Covenant, according to the school's website.
The Covenant School is a private Christian institution for students up to 6th grade, according to its website.
WHO ARE THE NASHVILLE SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS?
Parents comfort each other as they wait outside the Woodmont Baptist Church for students from Covenant School to arrive after a mass shooting at the school Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean)
Police named the shooter as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a 28-year-old Nashville resident who identified as transgender. Investigators were investigating a home connected to her. Nashville police Chief John Drake said Hale possibly prepared for the shooting, including having written a manifesto.
Police said that Hale was a former student at the school and had detailed maps marking surveillance entry points in her possession.
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Biden confirmed he is considering visiting Nashville to meet with members of the community as they recover from this tragedy.
"I've spoken with everyone down there from the mayors to the senators, all the players. I spoke to the chief of police today, I've spoken to all of them. What I don't want to do — I've been through many of these myself, as you know," Biden said.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom, Lawrence Richard and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
