President Joe Biden delivered an emotional call for new restrictions on firearms after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 19 children.
After a shooter shot and murdered at least 19 children at a Texas elementary school, an emotional and enraged President Joe Biden voiced an urgent demand for stricter gun controls.
Biden spoke from the White House late Tuesday night, only an hour after arriving from a five-day trip to Asia interrupted by terrible killings in the United States.
After years of inaction, he begged for action to combat gun violence, blaming gun manufacturers and their allies for delaying legislation in Washington.
“When in the name of God are we going to take on the gun lobby?” Mr. Biden made the remarks shortly after returning to the White House following a five-day trip to Asia that was marred by tragedy.
“I am sick and weary,” Biden said in the Roosevelt Room with first lady Jill Biden. We must take action.”
According to a state lawmaker informed by law enforcement, at least 19 students, including a teacher, were slain.
Mass Shootings in US
Before his international trip, Biden visited Buffalo, New York, where ten Black people were massacred by a racist, hate-filled gunman in a grocery store.
These tragedies are a reminder of the savagery and regularity of mass gun violence in the US.
“These types of mass shootings seldom happen anyplace else in the world,” Biden said, noting that while other countries have hateful people or have mental health concerns, no other industrialised country encounters gun violence on the scale of the United States.
“Walking into a gun store as an 18-year-old kid and buying two assault guns is plain unacceptable,” Biden remarked.
He has previously advocated for assault-style weapon bans and stricter federal background check procedures, and “red flag” measures to keep guns out of the hands of those with mental illnesses.
“Our hearts hurt — but our hearts keep breaking… and our broken hearts are nothing compared to the broken hearts of those families,” Vice President Kamala Harris remarked earlier.
“We must have the guts to act to guarantee that something like this does not happen again,” she added.
Mr. Biden talked with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “to offer any help he needs after the tragic massacre in Uvalde, TX.
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