Rachel Lang
US President Joe Biden is furious after learning about the 21 deaths in an elementary school shooting in Texas.
Nineteen children and two adults were killed when lone gunman, named as Salvador Ramos, opened fire inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
It's believed Ramos was killed by law enforcement at the scene.
Biden, who has spoken multiple times about America's need for stricter gun control, looked both livid and solemn while speaking to the press.
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The US President gave a no-holds-barred speech and asked when America will 'stand up to the gun lobby'.
"Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbyists," Biden said.
Biden, who had just returned from a Quad meeting in Tokyo with Australian, Japanese, and Indian leaders, told the press that he had a long haul flight to ponder his nation's latest gun atrocity.
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"What struck me on that 17-hour flight was these kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world," Biden said.
"Why? They have mental health problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries."
He then answered his own question with another: "Why are we willing to keep living with this carnage? It is time to turn this pain into action. It's time to act."
Biden's rage over the latest school slaying was palpable, with the US President expressing heartfelt condolences to the families of victims.
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"[These were] beautiful, innocent, second, third, fourth graders. And how many scores of little children who witness what happened, see their friends die, as if they're on a battlefield for God's sake," Biden said.
Biden, who has himself lost a child, went on to explain what that sort of loss is really like.
"To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away."
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He added: "So tonight, I ask the nation to pray for them, to give the parents and siblings the strength in the darkness they feel now."
The Texas school shooting is the 38th shooting in an educational facility in 2022, according to a CNN count.
As of May 24, there have been 212 mass shootings in 2022, according to nonprofit organisation Gun Violence Archive.
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