总统先生，这是一周内第二次乔·拜登已经被迫解决一场大规模枪击事件宣传他的COVID救援计划，悲剧发生后缓和他胜利的语调。

拜登在谈到周一科罗拉多州博尔德市的枪击事件时说:“在可怕的八人谋杀案和佐治亚州AAPI社区遭到袭击不到一周之后，当国旗还在为这场悲剧飘扬的时候，另一个美国城市已经被枪支暴力和由此造成的创伤弄得伤痕累累。”。在前往俄亥俄州哥伦布市之前发表了上述言论。

“我甚至不想说，因为我们经常说，‘我的心脏要跳出去了。’”他说，他说那些死去的人“留下了家人，这在他们的心里留下了一个很大的洞，”他以前就他的孩子和第一任妻子的死亡表达过这种情绪。

在谈到博尔德警官埃里克·塔利的去世时，拜登敦促美国人站在他家人的立场上。

“我希望每个人都考虑一下。每当一名官员走出家门，把徽章别上，他们刚刚告别的一名家庭成员都会下意识地怀疑他们是否会接到那个电话，他妻子接到的电话。他认为他会回到他的家庭和他的七个孩子身边，”拜登说。“但当采取行动的时刻到来时，特瑞警官毫不犹豫地履行职责，为拯救生命做出了最大的牺牲。这就是美国英雄的定义。”

他还呼吁国会立即通过枪支管制立法。

拜登说:“我不需要再等一分钟，更不用说一个小时，就可以采取常识性的措施来拯救未来的生命，并敦促我在众议院和参议院的同事采取行动。”他引用了众议院12天前通过的两项法案，这两项法案填补了购买武器的背景调查系统的漏洞。这些法案在参议院通过的可能性很小，需要60票。

在发表了这些令人沮丧的言论后，拜登立即前往哥伦布，在那里他纪念了《平价医疗法案》签署11周年，向美国人解释了他的1.9万亿美元的美国救援计划是如何降低医疗成本并增加许多人获得医疗服务的机会的。

帕特里克·斯曼斯基/美联社

乔·拜登总统就科罗拉多州博尔德的大规模枪击事件发表讲话

拜登的俄亥俄州之行是他“帮助在这里”之旅的一部分，旨在宣传他的第一个重大立法成就，这是他执政的头两个月，他的团队专注于在终点线取得巨大胜利。这次旅行计划持续两周，总统、副总统、第一夫人和第二先生在一波好消息中席卷全国，从增加疫苗供应到银行账户中的1400美元存款。

但3月16日在亚特兰大有8人被枪杀，周一在博尔德又发生了一起大规模枪击事件，边境地区正在发生全面危机，白宫将被迫面对的其他问题给这次访问蒙上了阴影。

迈克尔·恰格洛/今日美国网通过路透社

年，金苏斯杂货店，金苏斯员工被带离一名活跃的枪手

上周五，拜登计划前往亚特兰大举行一次驾车政治集会，感谢格鲁吉亚人选举了两名参议员，这两名参议员使他获得了通过COVID救济计划的多数票。但在亚特兰大枪击事件引发全国对反亚洲情绪的强烈抗议后，拜登转而与当地AAPI领导人举行闭门会议，并对他的言论采取了阴沉的语气。

埃里克巴拉达特/法新社通过盖蒂图像

乔·拜登总统在美国副总统贺锦丽的陪同下，在一次听证会上发表讲话

“正如你们中的许多人所知，我们最初计划举行一次汽车集会来感谢我们的支持者。但鉴于最近几天发生的事情，我们认为这不合适，所以我们取消了那次集会，”拜登在亚特兰大说，继续敦促美国人拒绝种族主义和暴力。

拜登在作为候选人和总统任期早期都承诺优先控制枪支。

“本届政府不会等待下一次大规模枪击事件来响应这一呼吁。拜登在2月份纪念帕克兰枪击事件周年的声明中说:“我们将采取行动结束枪支暴力的流行，使我们的学校和社区更加安全。”“今天，我呼吁国会颁布常识性的枪支法律改革，包括要求对所有枪支销售进行背景调查，禁止攻击性武器和高容量杂志，并取消那些故意将战争武器放在我们街道上的枪支制造商的豁免权。”

在竞选过程中，拜登承诺堵塞所谓的查尔斯顿漏洞，如果背景调查需要三天以上的时间，消费者可以在没有背景调查结果的情况下购买枪支，并承诺采取措施，使枪支远离可能对自己或他人构成危险的人。

拜登在枪支控制方面有着长期的记录。他帮助国会通过了1993年的布雷迪法案，该法案首次确立了背景调查和等待期的要求。拜登在1994年写的犯罪法案中包括了一项禁止攻击性武器的10年禁令。

约翰·杜里卡/美联社档案

参议员乔·拜登。参议院司法委员会主席，和参议员霍华德·梅岑堡

“我和全国步枪协会较量过，赢过他们两次。拜登在竞选期间发推特说:“作为总统，我会再做一次，因为每个人都需要通过背景调查才能购买枪支。”。

“我们可以再次在这个国家禁止攻击性武器和高容量杂志。我当参议员时就做到了。它通过了。这是最长时间的法律。它平息了这些大屠杀。我们应该再来一次，”拜登周二表示。

但是他的政府并没有把枪支改革放在议事日程的优先位置，而是推动新冠肺炎纾困，接下来是一项重大的基础设施和经济法案。随着越来越多的移民涌入美国南部边境，许多议员也在考虑移民改革。

周五在亚特兰大发表讲话后，拜登忽略了一个问题，即鉴于枪击事件，他是否会优先考虑枪支管制。周二，他在博尔德发表评论后，忽略了一个类似的问题。副总统贺锦丽周二早上也忽略了同样的问题。

“太悲惨了。简直悲剧。这太悲惨了，”哈里斯说，耸耸肩，无话可说。“这是10个人的一天，过他们的生活，不打扰任何人。一个正在履行职责的警官，带着巨大的勇气和英雄主义，七个孩子，我明白，这是悲惨的。太悲剧了。”

但当她结束思考时，她转身离开记者，没有回答关于枪支管制是否应该成为政府下一个优先事项的后续问题。

'My heart goes out,' Biden says on Colorado shooting, pushing gun control

For the second time in just a week, PresidentJoe Bidenhas been forced to address a mass shooting around travel scheduled topromote his COVID relief plan,tempering his triumphant tone in the wake of tragedy.

"Less than a week after the horrific murders of eight people and the assault on the AAPI community in Georgia, while the flag was still flying half staff for the tragedy, another American city has been scarred by gun violence and the resulting trauma," Biden said about Monday's shooting in Boulder, Colorado., that left 10 dead, delivering the remarks just before taking off for a trip to Columbus, Ohio.

"I even hate to say it, because we're saying it so often, 'my heart goes out,'" he said, saying those who died "left behind families, and it leaves a big hole in their hearts," a sentiment he has expressed before about the deaths of his children and his first wife.

Addressing the loss of Boulder Police officer Eric Talley, Biden urged Americans to put themselves in his family's shoes.

"I want everybody to think about this. Every time an officer walks out of his or her home and pins that badge on, a family member that they just said good-bye to wonders subconsciously whether they'll get that call, the call that his wife got. He thought he'd be coming home to his family and his seven children," Biden said. "But when the moment to act came, officer Talley did not hesitate in his duty making the ultimate sacrifice in his effort to save lives. That's the definition of an American hero."

He also called on Congress to immediately pass gun control legislation.

"I don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future, and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act," Biden said, citing two bills passed in the House just 12 days ago that close loopholes in the background check system for purchasing weapons. The bills have little chance of passing in the Senate, where 60 votes would be required.

Immediately after the somber remarks, Biden departed for Columbus, where he is marking the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, explaining to Americans how his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan lowers health care costs and increases access for many.

Biden's trip to Ohio is part of his "Help Is Here" tour, that was meant to tout his first major legislative achievement, one that consumed the first two months of his administration, with his team laser-focused on getting this big win over the finish line. The tour was intended to last two weeks, with the president, vice president, first lady, and second gentleman blitzing the country on a wave of good news, from increasing vaccine availability to $1400 deposits in bank accounts.

But after eight people were gunned down in Atlanta on March 16, and another mass shooting in Boulder Monday, with a full-blown crisis ongoing at the border, the tour is becoming overshadowed by other issues the White House will be forced to confront.

Last Friday, Biden was scheduled to head to Atlanta to hold a drive-in political rally to thank Georgians for electing the two senators who gave him the majority to pass his COVID relief plan. But in the wake of the Atlanta shooting that sparked a nationwide outcry against anti-Asian sentiment, Biden pivoted, instead holding a closed-door meeting with local AAPI leaders, and adopting a somber tone for his remarks.

"As many of you know, we originally planned to hold a car rally to thank our supporters. But given the recent days --events of recent days, we didn't feel it was appropriate, so we canceled that rally," Biden said in Atlanta, continuing to urge Americans to reject racism and violence.

Biden pledged both as a candidate and in the early days of his presidency to prioritize gun control.

"This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer," Biden said in a statement in February, marking the anniversary of the Parkland shooting. "Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets."

On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to close the so-called Charleston loophole, which allows a consumer to purchase a gun without the results of a background check if the check takes more than three days, and promised to pursue measures that would keep guns away from people who could pose a danger to themselves or others.

Biden has a long record on gun control. He helped shepherd the 1993 Brady Bill, which first established the background check and waiting period requirements, through Congress. The 1994 crime bill Biden wrote included a 10-year ban on assault weapons.

"I've taken on the NRA and beaten them — twice. And I'll do it again as president because everyone should need to pass a background check to buy a gun," Biden tweeted during the campaign.

"We can ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a Senator. It passed. It was a law for the longest time. And it brought down these mass killings. We should do it again," Biden said Tuesday.

But his administration has not prioritized gun reform in its agenda, instead pushing for COVID-19 relief, and next, a major infrastructure and economic bill. Immigration reform is also on the minds of many lawmakers as a surge in migrants crossing the southern U.S. border continues to intensify.

After speaking in Atlanta Friday, Biden ignored a question on whether he would prioritize gun control in light of the shooting. He ignored a similar question Tuesday after his remarks on Boulder. Vice President Kamala Harris also ignored the same question Tuesday morning.

"It's tragic. It's absolutely tragic. It's tragic," Harris said, shrugging, at a loss for words. "It's 10 people going about their day, living their lives, not bothering anybody. A police officer who was performing his duties, and with great courage and heroism, seven children, I understand, it's tragic. It's tragic."

But as she finished her thought, she turned and walked away from reporters, not answering a follow-up question on whether gun control should be the administration's next priority.