U.S. President Joe Biden has vowed to act on the country’s gun laws after the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 18 children and an adult.
Key points:
- Joe Biden says now is the time for the United States to commit to arms reform
- He says most Americans support “common sense” gun laws to reduce mass shootings
- He also criticized the powerful U.S. arms lobby, saying the country had to deal with industry.
Speaking at the White House, Biden said the Robb d’Uvalde primary school massacre showed that now was “the time to turn this pain into action”.
“As a nation we must ask ourselves, when in the name of God will we face the lobby of arms?” He said.
“When, in the name of God, what do we all know we need to do in our gut, what do we need to do?
“I’m fed up and tired of that. We have to act. Don’t tell me we can’t make an impact on this carnage.”
Mr Biden was thrilled when he spoke of past mass shootings at schools, including Sandy Hook in 2012.
The shooting has shaken the united community. (Reuters: Marco Bello)
“It’s been 3,448 days, 10 years since I got up at a Connecticut elementary school, where another gunman massacred 26 people, including 20 first-graders, at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” he said.
“Since then, more than 900 shooting incidents have been reported on school grounds.
“Marjorie Stoneman, Santa Fe, Oxford High School in Michigan … the list goes on and on and on when it comes to mass shootings in theaters, houses of worship and, as we saw 10 days ago at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York “.
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Biden said he learned of the shooting while returning to the United States from the Quad meeting on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.
“What struck me about that 17-hour flight … was that these kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world. Why?” He said.
“They have mental health issues. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have people who have been lost, but these kinds of mass shootings never happen with the kind of frequency that happens in America, why? Why are we willing to live? But why do we keep letting this happen?
“Where, in the name of God, is our backbone to have the courage to face it and face pressure groups?
“It’s time to turn this pain into action. For every parent. For every citizen of this country.”
U.S. President Joe Biden says now is the time for the country to confront the influential arms lobby. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)
“Common sense” laws have a positive impact, Biden says
Biden said most Americans supported what he described as “common sense weapons laws” that had reduced the number of mass shootings in years past.
“I spent my career as a senator and vice president working to pass common sense gun laws. We will not avoid all tragedies, but we know they work and have a positive impact,” he said.
“When we passed the ban on assault weapons, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled.
“Weapon makers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons that make them the biggest and biggest profit. For God’s sake, we need to have the courage to stand up to the industry.”
Biden said he hoped he would never have to make an address about another shooting as president and paid tribute to the “beautiful, innocent, second, third and fourth graders” who were killed.
“How many dozens of young children who witnessed what happened see their friends die, as if they were on a battlefield, for God’s sake?” He said.
“They will remember it for a lifetime.”
The students were taken to a nearby civic center after the shooting. (Reuters: Marco Bello)
Biden also offered his condolences and prayers to those parents “who will never see their child again.”
“Never make them jump in bed and hug them. Parents who will never be the same,” she said.
“Losing a child is like having a piece of your soul torn apart. There’s a gap in your chest. You feel like you’re being sucked in and you can never get out of it. Suffocating. It’s never. It’s pretty much the same.
“Our prayer tonight is for these parents. They are lying in bed trying to figure out, ‘Will I be able to go back to sleep? What will I tell my other children? What will happen tomorrow?’
“May the Lord be near to broken hearts and save the crushed of spirit. They will need much help, many of our prayers.”
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, up and down arrows for volume. Clock time: 2 minutes 40 seconds 2 m 40 s The school has just under 600 students, according to local authorities.
Posted 1 h 1 hours agoDmec. May 25, 2022 at 1:03 am, updated 32 m ago 32 minutes agoWednesday, May 25, 2022 at 2:27 am