Biden commemorates 25 years since the Columbine shooting

President Biden, joined by other members of his administration, marked the 25th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre and attempted bombing on Saturday.

On April 20, 1999, two 12th graders murdered 12 students and a teacher in April and injured more than 20 people, in what became the deadliest mass shooting in Colorado.

Biden expressed his sympathy in a Saturday Declaration honoring the victims and in posts on social media.

“Today marks 25 years since 13 innocent lives were taken at Columbine High School,” said President Biden wrote on social media site X.

In his statement, Biden noted that Columbine, which at the time was the deadliest K-12 school shooting, was followed by hundreds of other mass school shootings.

“Since Columbine, more than 400 school shootings – from Newtown to Parkland to Uvalde – have exposed more than 370,000 students to the horrors of gun violence. Students across the country now learn to hide before they learn to read and write,” he wrote.

Biden said that while he has “signed into law the most significant gun safety reform in nearly three decades,” Congress “must do more.”

We need universal background checks, a national red flag law, and we must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” he added.

Vice President Harris echoed Biden’s call for change.

After expressing sympathy for the families and survivors of Columbine, Harris praised the work she and Biden have done to strengthen gun legislation.

“25 years after the Columbine High School massacre, @POTUS and took historic steps to close the gun show loophole and ensure fewer guns are sold without background checks,” she wrote on X. “Now, Congress must save lives and pass universal background checks and a gun ban. assault”.

During a Saturday Press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration continues to pray for victims of gun violence.

“As the president said, this is not normal and it must stop,” she said.