PTI

President Joe Biden has said his administration will do everything in its power to crack down on gun trafficking and ghost guns one can buy online or make at home with no serial numbers or tracking address, urging the US Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence in the country.

Biden urged the lawmakers to fund American police with the resources and training they need to protect the communities as he hammered out the defund the police' movement, which is primarily being supported by a section of his Democratic Party.

We should all agree: The answer is not to Defund the police. The answer is to FUND the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities. I ask Democrats and Republicans alike: Pass my budget and keep our neighbourhoods safe, Biden said in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday.

I know what works: Investing in crime prevention and community police officers who'll walk the beat, who'll know the neighbourhood, and who can restore trust and safety. So, let's not abandon our streets. Or choose between safety and equal justice, he added.

Biden called for coming together to protect the communities, restore trust, and hold law enforcement accountable.

"That's why the Justice Department required body cameras, banned chokeholds, and restricted no-knock warrants for its officers, he said.

That is why the American Rescue Plan provided USD 350 billion that cities, states, and counties can use to hire more police and invest in proven strategies like community violence interruption trusted messengers breaking the cycle of violence and trauma and giving young people hope, he said.

Biden said he will keep doing everything in his power to crack down on gun trafficking and ghost guns one can buy online and make at home they have no serial numbers and can't be traced.

And I ask Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence. Pass universal background checks. Why should anyone on a terrorist list be able to purchase a weapon? he said.

"Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Repeal the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can't be sued. These laws don't infringe on the Second Amendment. They save lives, he asserted.

The US president also said the right to vote and to have it counted is under assault in America, urging lawmakers to make necessary legislative measures to fix the problem in the world's oldest democracy.

The most fundamental right in America is the right to vote and to have it counted. And it's under assault, Biden said.

In state after state, new laws have been passed, not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert entire elections. We cannot let this happen, he said.

Pass the Freedom to Vote Act and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. And while you're at it, pass the Disclose Act so Americans can know who is funding our elections, he said.
 

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