Joe Biden reacts to Texas school shooting: ‘When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lob?’
Authorities said an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in south Texas, about 130 km west of San Antonio before he apparently was killed police officers.
“I hoped when I became president I would not have to do this, again,” a visibly shaken Biden said, decrying the death of “beautiful, innocent” second, third and fourth graders in “another massacre.”
Their parents “will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them,” he said.
“As a nation, we have to ask, ‘When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lob?’”
“We have to act,” he said and suggested reinstating the assault weapons ban and other “common-sense gun laws.”
“I am sick and tired of it. We have to act,” President Biden says of mass shootings as he calls for gun reform while addressing the nation after Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
18 children and one adult were killed. https://t.co/VTFAt3ELLK pic.twitter.com/QsO1Dwy53N
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 25, 2022
The shooting hands Biden, already facing the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, another crisis on top of 40-year high inflation rates and the war in Ukraine.
A mass shooting in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store 10 days ago increased pressure from backers of tougher gun laws for the Biden adminration to make good its vow to crack down on gun violence.
When he ran for the White House, Biden promised to push gun safety measures and reduce the country’s tens of thousands of annual gun deaths. Biden and his fellow Democrats have failed to get enough votes in Congress for background checks for gun purchases or other proposed bills.
The United States is the most heavily armed society in the world, according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, a research group. Small, rural states where gun ownership is widespread have disproportionate influence in the US Senate, where a supermajority of 60 votes is needed to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber.
A woman cries as she leaves the Uvalde Civic Center on May 24, 2022. (AP)
Biden was briefed about the shooting aboard Air Force One as he returned from a trip to Asia, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter. He called Texas Governor Greg Abbott to offer any assance needed.
“His prayers are with the families impacted this awful event,” Jean-Pierre said.
In a proclamation issued before he landed, Biden ordered the flags at the White House and at U.S. federal and public buildings to be flown at half-staff until sunset on May 28.
