Susan Rice on gun reform ahead of White House departure: ‘I’m not losing hope’

Outgoing White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice said she’s “not losing hope” on Congress initiating more action on gun reform in the country.

When asked on Thursday if she has lost hope on possible gun reform legislation in the wake of a recent string of mass shootings across the country and states doubling down on their gun policies, she said “no.”

“No … I’m not losing hope because the vast majority of Americans agree on a bipartisan basis that it is ridiculous that we do not have universal background checks for guns, that we can’t get a grip on things like assault weapons and high capacity magazines,” Rice said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Rice, who also served as national security adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Obama administration, explained that common sense gun safety reforms are actually popular among gun owners in this country. 

“So what we have is a problem with Republicans in Congress and state legislators…that are making policies that are out of step with the vast majority of their constituents,” she said Thursday.

Her remarks come nearly a year after lawmakers passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major type of legislation to address gun violence in nearly 30 years. President Biden signed the legislation into law last year. 

The bill was first drawn up in response to a string of mass shootings that occurred in the U.S., such as the mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., and another one that happened a year ago at a local elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

During an appearance on Washington Post Live on Wednesday, Rice touted Biden’s polices, including the crackdown on ghost guns, but outlined exactly what she believes Congress needs to do to move forward on the issue.

“We still need Congress to reinstitute an assault weapons ban, a ban on high capacity magazines, to implement national red flag laws and safe storage laws, and to ensure we have universal background checks for all gun sales,” she said. “So there are many steps that Congress can and should take — and it also could be taken at the state level as well that would meaningfully improve safety in our streets.”

Biden announced last month that Rice would step down from her role with his administration.