Biden will host White House event to celebrate gun safety law

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks after a roundtable discussion with advisors on steps to curtail U.S. gun violence, at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 23, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Files

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will host an event at the White House on Monday to tout the first major federal gun safety bill in three decades, which he signed into law in June.

The bipartisan bill came together just weeks after mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo that killed more than 30 people, including 19 children at an elementary school. https://reut.rs/3bSssm0

The law includes provisions to help states keep guns out of the hands of those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. It also blocks gun sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners and cracks down on gun sales to purchasers convicted of domestic violence.

The gun bill came the same week as the Supreme Court expanded gun owners’ rights. https://reut.rs/3uF2idb

Gun control has long been a divisive issue in the nation, with several attempts to put new controls on gun sales failing time after time.

Biden, who is looking to improve sagging public approval ratings ahead of Nov. 8 midterm elections for control of Congress, made securing victories on gun control a part of his campaign pitch to voters.

Biden will be joined by survivors and family members of victims of mass shootings from Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Tucson, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Santa Fe, Uvalde, Buffalo and Highland Park, among others, said a White House official, who did not wish to be named.

Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Bradley Perrett

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