President Joe Biden addressed Americans in the horrible aftermath of Tuesday's shooting at a Texas elementary school, which left at least 18 young children dead, with the United States still hurting from the deadly shooting at a Buffalo grocery store.Biden addressed the nation from the White House Roosevelt Room an hour after returning from a five-day trip to Asia and two hours after ordering the flag flying above the White House to be lowered to half-staff from Air Force One."When I became president, I hoped I wouldn't have to do this again." Another bloodbath. Texas, Uvalde. It's a primary school. He described the second, third, and fourth grades as "beautiful."
"As a country, we must ask when in God's name will we stand up to the gun lobby," he continued, increasing his voice.
"I'm sick of it — we have to do something," he remarked.MORE: Governor Abbott says 14 children and one teacher were killed in a school shooting in Texas.
According to Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, who Biden spoke with on his way back to Washington, two adults, including a teacher at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, were also killed by the 18-year-old suspect, who was claimed to be a student at Uvalde High School.
Biden was in Buffalo less than two weeks ago, right before heading overseas, criticizing a suspected white supremacist accused of murdering ten Black people going about their regular lives at a local store.He urged Congress to "keep weapons of war off our streets" there.
Vice President Kamala Harris, holding back tears as she began her pre-scheduled remarks at a Washington event only minutes before Biden was to appear, mentioned the shooting."I'm sure most of you have heard the awful news of what happened in Texas," she remarked."Our hearts break every time anything like this occurs. And, despite the fact that our broken hearts are nothing compared to other families' broken hearts, it continues to happen. So, as I'm sure we all know and have told each other many times, enough is enough. Enough already, "she murmured.
"As a country, we must have the fortitude to act and recognize the connection between what constitutes reasonable and decent public policy to ensure that something like this never happens again," she said.
On the fourth anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in which a single gunman killed 17 students and teachers, Biden pressed legislators to adopt legislation requiring universal background checks and prohibiting assault weapons, among other gun-control measures.
In a speech from the White House in December, on the ninth anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where a single shooter killed 20 first-graders and six teachers, Biden urged lawmakers to "give them action."
"We formed a broad coalition and enacted over 20 executive actions because of your leadership," Biden remarked. "We were on the verge of passing legislation, but fell short. It was excruciatingly annoying."
Biden was charged by then-Vice President Barack Obama to head the administration's drive to adopt tighter gun control regulations in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, but no action on gun control has been taken at the federal level in the nearly decade since the nation mourned over Newtown.MORE: Texas elementary school shooting kills 14 pupils and one teacher: Gov. Abbott Biden, like several of his predecessors, has campaigned for legislation to curb gun violence, but Congress has been hesitant to take action.
Bills aimed at expanding and improving background checks cleared the House but fell short of the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold due to Republican opposition.Biden has instead used his powers as president, such as when he imposed tighter limitations on "ghost weapons" last month.
When asked what more he could do about gun violence when he left Buffalo last week, Biden admitted there was "not much" he could do through executive action.
"I have to persuade Congress to reinstate what I enacted years ago," Biden added, referring to a 1994 assault weapons prohibition that expired in 2004.
MORE: Gun violence is an issue in America. So, what are our options?
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the United States has seen over 3,500 mass shootings since Sandy Hook in 2012.
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