President Joe Biden speaks to the media on the south lawn of the White House on May 30, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) President Joe Biden said Monday that the "Second Amendment was never absolute" and that, after the Texas elementary school shooting, there may be some bipartisan support to tighten restrictions on the kind of high-powered weapons used by the gunman."I think things have gotten so bad that everybody’s getting more rational, at least that’s my hope," Biden told reporters on the White House lawn after returning to Washington.His comments came a day after the president traveled to the shattered Texas community of Uvalde, mourning privately for three-plus hours with anguished families grieving for the 19 children and two teachers who died in the shooting.
Faced with chants of "do something" as he departed a church service, Biden pledged: "We will."As he arrived from Delaware for Memorial Day events, Biden was asked if he's now more motivated to see new federal limits imposed on firearms."I’ve been pretty motivated all along," he said. "I’m going to continue to push and we’ll see how this goes."In Congress, a bipartisan group of senators talked over the weekend to see if they could reach even a modest compromise on gun legislation after a decade of mostly failed efforts.
That included encouraging state "red flag" laws to keep guns away from those with mental health problems."The Second Amendment was never absolute," Biden said. "You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed.