Yesterday, in Uvalde, Texas at an elementary school, beautiful, innocent children and adults were killed -- and scores of others witnessed it happen.
There are parents who will never be the same. To lose a child is to have a piece of your soul ripped away forever. It's the feeling shared by the siblings, grandparents, families, and communities left behind. I ask the nation to pray for them to give them strength in the darkness.
It's been nearly ten years since another gunman massacred 26 people, including 20 first-graders, at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since then, there have been over 900 incidents of gunfire reported on school grounds: Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida; Santa Fe High School in Texas; Oxford High School in Michigan; the list goes on.
And it only grows when it includes the mass shootings at places like movie theaters, houses of worship, and as we saw just ten days ago, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. I am sick and tired of it. We have to act -- and don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage.
I've spent my career working to pass common-sense gun laws. We know that when we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. We know that gun manufacturers have spent two decades marketing assault weapons which make them the largest profit. We must have the courage to stand up to the industry and the lobbies.
It's time to turn this pain into action for every parent and for every citizen of this country. We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country that it's time to act. It's time for those who obstructed the way, who have blocked the common-sense gun laws, to know we will not forget.
We have to do more.
Joe
Joseph R. Biden Jr.
President of the United States
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