Joe Biden said that he was struck by the fact none of the other nations experienced these shootings, with such frequency.
A gunman killed both students and adults at an elementary school in Texas in a second mass shooting in the US in the last 10 days. The gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos, first shot his grandmother, who is alive but in critical condition, before hitting Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, with two assault rifles that he had bought shortly after he turned 18 recently. He was killed by law enforcement officers.
His motive had not been ascertained yet.
A white gunman, also 18, had opened fire at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York on May 14, killing 10 African Americans. He gave himself over to law enforcement. He was motivated by racism and had intended to kill African Americans and chose a grocery frequented by them for his carnage.
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About the tragic incident today, US President Joe Biden said that he learned about the same during the flight back from Tokyo. In remarks to the nation from the White House, Biden said, "As a nation, we have to ask: When in God's name we are going to stand up to the gun lobby. When in God's name we do (that) we all know in our gut needs to be done."
Biden said of the visit that he was struck by the fact none of these other nations experienced these shootings, with such frequency.
Biden went on to say, with frustration and anger, "Why? They have mental health problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have people who are lost. But these kinds of mass shootings never happen, with the kind of frequency they happen in America. Why? Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God's name is our backbone?"
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Gun control laws introduced in Australia, whose Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was among the leaders Biden met in Tokyo after a 1996 massacre that left 36 people dead is now cited as the gold standard world over and has been used as a model. It has been discussed in the US as well.
Gun violence is a politically sensitive issue in the United States. Calls for commonsense controls peak after every incident of mass shooting and peter out after a while as the powerful gun lobby pushes back with its army of supporters among lawmakers, policy circles, and media.
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 "'Where in God's name is our backbone?': Joe Biden expresses frustration as 18 children die in Texas school shooting")
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