Print this article President Joe Biden was elected on a platform of sweeping gun control measures, describing gun violence as a “public health epidemic” during the campaign. But he has made limited progress on that front due to his party’s razor-thin congressional majorities. “We need a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Don’t tell me it can’t be done,” Biden said in his first address to a joint session of Congress. “We did it before, and it worked.” With the Senate deadlocked 50-50 and gun legislation subject to the filibuster, effectively creating a 60-vote threshold for passage, and the Democrats barely clinging on to a majority in the House, Biden has had to turn to executive actions to advance his priorities on gun policy.