US President Joe Biden has called on his compatriots to stand up to the gun lobby and want them to pressure parliament to pass “sensible gun laws”. Biden made his appeal in an emotional speech in response to the murder of at least 18 children and an adult in a Texas elementary school shooting. Earlier reports even mentioned three dead adults, including the perpetrator.
On Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in the town of Uvalde, about 80 miles west of San Antonio, before being killed by police officers. The children at the school range in age from seven to ten years old. The perpetrator’s motive is still unknown.
“Their parents will never see their child again, never let them jump in bed and cuddle with them,” Biden said. And, “We must act,” to which he suggested a ban on assault weapons and other “sensible gun laws.”
As a Democratic presidential candidate, Biden pledged to enact tougher gun laws to reduce the country’s tens of thousands of annual deaths from firearms. Biden and his party members, however, do not have enough votes for that in Congress. According to Biden, this is partly due to the gun lobby, which is especially influential in rural, sparsely populated states. Those states, where gun ownership is rife, have disproportionate representation in the U.S. Senate, where a 60-out of 100-vote majority is needed to pass most legislation.
Just before returning from his Asia trip earlier Tuesday, Biden ordered that flags in the White House and on public buildings be flown at half-mast until sunset on May 28.