US President Joe Biden called on the United States to stand up to the gun lobby, hours after the killing of 18 children and 3 adults.
In a speech to the nation delivered from the White House, Biden said: “When are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?”
“It’s time to turn this pain into action, for every parent, for every citizen of this country, we need to make it clear to every elected official in this country that it’s time to act,” he added, visibly moved.
US Vice President Kamala Harris earlier condemned the Texas massacre, saying “enough is enough,” calling for “action” to restrict possession of firearms in the United States.
“Our hearts are still broken” because of the constant shootings in American schools, and we must have the courage to act,” she added, in an appeal to Congress to legislate restrictions on the sale and possession of firearms.
US Senator Chris Murphy also called during a speech before the Senate to pass laws that reduce shootings, and said in his speech: “I am here to beg you to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely.”
And US Senator Roland Gutierrez said that 18 children and three adults died Tuesday in an elementary school shooting in Texas, an 18-year-old wanted by police.
The Texas senator told CNN that police “just told me that 18 children died, as well as three adults,” without specifying whether the shooter was one of that toll.
And Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, in the United States, said that a gunman killed 14 students and teachers, in an elementary school in the Ovaldi area in the south of the state.
This attack plunges the United States once again into the tragedies of shootings in educational circles, with the accompanying horrific scenes of traumatized students being evacuated by the security forces, and terrified parents asking for their children.