Joe Biden’s 30-Year Quest for Gun Control

In less than a week, the United States has seen two deadly mass shootings: one in Boulder, Colo., and another in the Atlanta area.

These events prompted President Biden to address the nation on Tuesday. In his speech, he said it was time to ban assault weapons.

Mr. Biden has been here before. He has tried several times in his political career to bring in gun-control legislation, all to little avail.

How likely is this latest attempt to succeed, and what lessons can Mr. Biden take from his decades-long effort?

Guest: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times. 

Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• A deadly shooting at a Boulder supermarket left 10 people dead and a state full of grief and anger.
• After the second mass shooting in a week, President Biden has said tighter gun laws should not be a partisan issue, but Republicans in Congress have shown little interest in Democratic proposals.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.