Joe Biden emotionally called on the United States to “confront the gun lobby” and “turn pain into action” after 18 children and a teacher were killed in a shooting at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.
The US president’s call, shortly after returning to the White House for a trip to Asia, was aimed at provoking a response from Congress, where tougher arms control legislation has languished for years.
“Why are we willing to live with this butchery? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where, in the name of God, is our backbone to have the courage to face it? Biden asked.
Earlier on Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had said that Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old man living in the town of Uvalde, had entered Robb Elementary School and opened fire on teachers and students. Erick Estrada, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told CNN that at least 18 children were killed along with a teacher.
“Jeans across the state are mourning the victims of this senseless crime and the Uvalde community,” Abbott said in a statement.
The gunman was armed with a pistol and possibly a rifle, the governor said. Abbott said the shooter was dead, believed to have been killed by officers who responded. Two responding officers were also hit by ammunition, but were not seriously injured.
Abbott said the suspect had been reportedly shot at his grandmother before going to school. Estrada said the shooter crashed his vehicle into a ditch near the school and was “compromised” by law enforcement before entering the building. He said the shooter was wearing armor and a rifle when he entered the school.
Pete Arredondo, head of police in the consolidated independent school district of Uvalde, confirmed that a “mass casualty incident” took place shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time at the school, which has second-graders. third and fourth grade.
Arredondo said the investigation is ongoing and that the police department is still working to inform the families of the victims. “Let me assure you that the intruder is dead and we are not actively looking for any other individual or suspect in this case,” he said.
Uvalde is a small town in southwest Texas with a population of about 15,000, about 50 miles from the US-Mexico border and 80 miles from San Antonio. About 90 percent of Robb Elementary students are Hispanic and most students are considered “economically disadvantaged” by the state, according to Texas government data.
The shooting in Texas comes less than two weeks after a teenager shot and killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
Biden had been informed of the mass murder while on Air Force One and began his brief remarks describing the grief of his parents who were “ripped out of their souls” and their classmates. the victims who witnessed how his friends were shot down. as on a “battlefield”.
“As a nation, should we ask ourselves when, in the name of God, will we face the arms lobby?” said Biden. “They have mental health problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have people who are lost. But this kind of mass shooting never happens with the kind of frequency that happens in the United States. Because?”
Democrats in Congress have tried to pass stricter measures for years, but have met with strong Republican opposition, which has shown no signs of slowing down even for modest arms control proposals, such as stricter arms controls. background for the purchase of weapons. Any legislative change would require the removal of a 60-vote threshold in the Senate under current rules, meaning at least 10 Republicans should be in favor of moving forward.
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“I urge my fellow Republicans to join the Democrats to finally make changes to our gun laws to help prevent Americans from revisiting this tragedy with guns too often. We can’t keep sitting in our hands. and allow innocent lives to be lost, “said Dick Durbin, an Illinois senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Chris Murphy, a Democrat senator representing Connecticut, the state where a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children and six staff members, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, delivered an emotional speech in the Senate criticizing his Republican colleagues. “Why are you here?” he asked. “Why are you spending all this time running for the U.S. Senate?
Most Republicans expressed sympathy for the victims and their families, but no or very limited interest in new gun control measures immediately after the Texas shooting.
“Pain overwhelms the soul. Children sacrificed. Extinct lives. Parents’ hearts break. Incomprehensible. I offer prayer and condolences, but I know it is totally inappropriate. We need to find answers, “said Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz accused Democrats of trying to politicize the shooting, saying “from past experience, one of the most effective tools for protecting children is armed law enforcement.” school grounds.
Cruz is scheduled to speak at the annual convention of the National Rifle Association, the largest gun lobby group, this Friday, along with former President Donald Trump and Abbott, the governor of Texas.