Biden says he will try to move on gun control during lame-duck session

President Biden on Thursday said he would try to pass a bill banning assault rifles during the lame-duck session before the next Congress forms, despite long odds due to Republican opposition.

Biden spoke to reporters Thanksgiving morning, coming after a week that saw three mass shootings in the U.S.

Biden said it was “ridiculous” that red flag laws — in which law enforcement officers can seize firearms from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others — were not being enforced across the country.

“No. 2, the idea … we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. It’s just sick. It has no, no social redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single, solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers,” he said.

Biden said he was “going to try to get rid of assault weapons” during the lame-duck session, but it would depend on whether he has the votes to pass a bill.

“I’m going to do it whenever I — I got to make that assessment as I get in and start counting the votes,” he said.

The House introduced a bill to ban assault weapons earlier this year, but it was doomed with Democrats holding a slim majority in the Senate and most Republicans united against such legislation, making overcoming a filibuster impossible.

The lift for any gun control bill will be even more difficult when the next Congress forms in January, with Republicans taking control of the House.