Biden told the father of a Parkland shooting victim to 'sit down' as he heckled the president during a gun law speech

Manuel Oliver interrupts Joe Biden during a speech at the White House on Monday.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images

President Biden told a man whose son was killed in the Parkland massacre to "sit down" on Monday.
Manuel Oliver heckled Biden during his speech praising bipartisan gun control legislation.
Oliver told CNN earlier that new legislation is "not enough" to address mass shootings.

President Joe Biden told a man who lost his son in the 2018 Parkland school shooting to "sit down" as the father heckled Biden during a Monday speech touting a bipartisan gun control law.

"Despite the naysayers, we can make meaningful progress on dealing with gun violence," Biden said in footage of the speech posted to Twitter by CSPAN.

Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was among the 17 people killed in the Parkland mass shooting, could be heard shouting in the background.

"Sit down. You'll hear what I have to say," Biden said, as Oliver continued to yell at the president. Moments later, the president added, "Let me finish my comments. Let him talk. Let him talk."

It wasn't immediately clear what Oliver said.

—CSPAN (@cspan) July 11, 2022

Earlier on Monday, Oliver told CNN that new gun legislation passed in the wake of a recent spate of high-profile mass shootings is "not enough" to address the violence.

A majority of Americans (64%) approve of the new gun law, including 32% who said they strongly approve of the legislation, according to new polling from Pew Research Center. But the survey also found that most Americans (78%) think the bill will do "a little" (42%) or "nothing at all" (36%) to reduce gun violence.

Additionally, the poll found that 63% of Americans would like to see Congress pass another round of legislation to address gun violence.

The bill, which Biden signed in late June, came following high-profile instances of gun violence in the US — including a mass shooting that left 21 dead at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Though the bill represents the most significant gun legislation passed by Congress in roughly three decades, critics contend it falls short of what's necessary to curb gun violence.

The bill expands background checks for people ages 18 and 21 attempting to buy guns and provides incentives for states to pass red flag laws, which open the door for courts to order the temporary confiscation of a person's guns if they're considered a danger to themselves or others. It also builds on a ban on gun ownership for convicted domestic abusers by also including dating or intimate partners in addition to spouses and ex-spouses — aiming to close what's known as the "boyfriend loophole."

"While this bill doesn't do everything I want, it does include actions I've long called for that are going to save lives," Biden said as he signed the bill last month. "Today, we say more than 'enough.' We say more than 'enough.' This time, when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential."

Biden echoed these sentiments during his remarks at the White House on Monday, stating that the bill "matters, but it's not enough." The president described the US as a country "awash in weapons of war," underscoring that he's "determined" to see assault weapons and high-capacity magazines banned.

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