Biden says time to ‘stand up to the gun lobby’ after Texas attack
- 18 children and three teachers killed after a gunman opens fire in a Texas primary school.
- The attack took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a small community about 80km (50 miles) west of San Antonio in the southern part of the state.
- The gunman, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was reportedly shot dead by police.
- US President Joe Biden tells Americans it is time to take on the gun lobby.
Here are all the latest updates:
Kamala Harris says it’s time for ‘courage’
Vice President Kamala Harris has called on the US to have the “courage to take action” and prevent a repeat of the mass shooting at Uvalde.
Tonight in Uvalde, Texas, there are parents who lost children. Families who have lost loved ones. And many who have been injured.
As a nation, we must have the courage to take action and prevent this from ever happening again.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 25, 2022
‘Why are we here if not to solve a problem as existential as this?’: Senator Chris Murphy
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy has called on his fellow politicians to take action on guns.
“What are we doing?” the Democrat asked on the floor of the House.
“There are more mass shootings than days of the year. Our kids are leaving in fear every time they set foot in a classroom because they fear they will be next. Why are we here if not to solve a problem as existential as this?”
Biden says time to take on the gun lobby
Biden made impassioned comments calling for United States elected representatives to pass ‘common sense’ gun control legislation.
“When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby,” he asked. “When in God’s name are we going to do what we know in our gut needs to be done.”
Biden noted that it had been 10 years since he had been to Sandy Hook where 26 people were killed, 20 of them children.
‘I’m sick and tired. We must act’: Biden
Biden opens his speech with his voice sounding as if it was about to break, talking of the children who had watched their friends die “as if on a battlefield” and parents who will never see their children again.
“[These] parents will never be the same again,” he said. “To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped out.”
Biden, himself, lost an infant daughter in a car crash and his adult son to cancer.
He says it’s time for the US to take action.
“I’m sick and tired. We have to act. Don’t tell me we cannot have an impact on this carnage.”
Joe Biden begins his address
Texas shooting follows record year for attacks in 2021
The latest shooting comes just a week after a white gunman killed 10 Black people in a racist attack on a Buffalo supermarket.
The FBI has said 2021 was the worst year ever for gun attacks.
The Reuters news agency has compiled a list of some of the most serious recent shootings.
New York: April 12 – In one of the most violent attacks in the history of New York’s transit system, 23 people were wounded when a 62-year-old man activated a smoke bomb and opened fire on the subway. He was taken into custody the next day.
Oxford, Michigan: November 30, 2021 – Four students were killed, and seven other people were wounded after a teenager opened fire at a high school in Oxford, Michigan.
Indianapolis: April 16, 2021 – A former FedEx employee who had been under psychiatric care shot eight people dead and injured several others at an Indiana facility of the shipping company before taking his own life.
Los Angeles: March 31, 2021 – Four people were killed, one of them a child, in a shooting at an office building in suburban Los Angeles before the suspect was taken into custody.
Boulder, Colorado: March 22, 2021 – A mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, left 10 people dead, including a police officer.
Atlanta, Georgia: March 16, 2021 – Eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were shot dead in a string of attacks at day spas in and around Atlanta. A male suspect was arrested.
Death toll climbs to 21: Texas Senator Roland Gutierrez
An update on the death toll from the shooting.
Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez has told CNN that 18 children had been killed, and three adults.
He cited the Texas Rangers state police for the figures.
‘Part of the culture’: Why the US is so attached to guns
Kenneth Williams, a professor at South Texas College of Law, has said it is hard to change gun laws in the US because gun ownership is “part of the culture”.
Williams noted that there are more guns in the country than there are people.
US President Joe Biden to address nation
US President Joe Biden is back in the United States after his visit to South Korea and Japan.
He is due to address the country at 8:15pm (00:15 GMT).
Biden has already ordered flags to be flown at half-mast until sunset every day until May 28 in response to the tragedy.
