Biden to visit Uvalde on Sunday in wake of Texas school shooting

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will travel to Uvalde, Texas to express grief over the killing of 21 people, including 19 school kids, that has reignited the debate on tougher gun laws in the country.

Biden will be accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden.

“On Sunday, May 29, the President and the First Lady will travel to Uvalde, Texas to grieve with the community that lost twenty-one lives in the horrific elementary school shooting. This trip will be pooled press. Additional details to follow,” the White House said in a statement.

Media reports on Thursday said the suspected 18-year old gunman, Salvador Ramos, barricaded himself inside the school for nearly an hour before a tactical unit went inside and killed him, prompting public criticism of the police.

Earlier, Biden had condemned the attack on students saying that gun laws cannot prevent every tragedy but they have a positive impact pointing out that mass shootings tripled after the assault weapon ban expired.

“We know common sense gun laws can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban — mass shootings went down. When the law expired — mass shootings tripled,” Biden said in a tweet.

“Gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons which make them some of the biggest profits,” he added.

Over half of Americans supported making gun violence laws more strict, The Hill reported citing a poll conducted between the mass shootings that took place this month in New York and Texas.

54 per cent of those surveyed in a CBS News-YouGov poll out Wednesday said they would like to see stricter laws regulating the sale of guns.

A total of 30 per cent say they want gun laws to remain the same, and 16 per cent said they wanted gun laws to be less strict, the report added.

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