LOS ANGELES — On the fifth anniversary of a deadly mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, President Joe Biden issued a statement Tuesday calling it an act of senseless gun violence.
A Marine veteran shot and killed 12 people on a college night at the bar in Ventura County. One of the victims was a sheriff’s sergeant who tried to stop the carnage.
“No family or community should ever have to go through what the Thousand Oaks community did that night,” Biden said in a statement. “Yet, in the years since — from Lewiston to Highland Park, Buffalo to Uvalde, Monterey Park to El Paso, and thousands of communities impacted by daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines — our country has been devastated by an epidemic of gun violence again and again.”
David Long, the 28-year-old gunman, used a .45-caliber Glock handgun in the shooting before killing himself. Biden said “I am doing everything in my power as President to end the scourge of gun violence.”
“Through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the most meaningful gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years — through dozens of executive actions, through the creation of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, I am taking every action that I can to save lives. I’ve also continued to call on Republicans in Congress to help pass commonsense gun safety policies — like banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and much more — that we know can save lives.”
Several hundred people were in the bar for a country dancing night. Sgt. Ron Helus of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department was shot and killed when he tried to stop the shooting. He was a 29-year veteran of the sheriff’s department and left behind a wife and son.
About a dozen more people were shot and wounded in the bar. A number of students from Pepperdine University were at the bar during the shooting.
“Today, our hearts are with all the victims and survivors of the Thousand Oaks attack, and those who are grieving the loved ones they lost five years ago. May we honor their memories by turning our heartbreak into action and ending our nation’s gun violence epidemic once and for all,” Biden said.
