(Washington) Fighting back tears, Joe Biden commemorated Wednesday at the White House the massacre perpetrated a year ago in the school of Uvalde in Texas, calling again for more regulation of firearms.
The president, accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, also very moved, spoke of a “really hard day” for “broken” families, in front of 21 white candles in memory of the 19 children and the two teachers killed by a young man of 18 years at Robb Elementary School.
“Remembering is important, it’s also painful,” said the 80-year-old Democrat, known for his empathy with any bereaved family, he who has lost two children, a still-baby daughter and an adult son.
He again called for “common sense gun laws”, in particular a ban on the popular AR-15 type semi-automatic weapons.
“Too many places of daily life have become sites of massacres” in America, denounced the president, noting that firearms were now the number one cause of child death in the United States.
“Everywhere we hear the same thing. “Do something, for God’s sake do something!” ” he said.
His appeal, however fervent it may be, has little chance of leading to concrete reforms. Republicans, who control one of the two chambers of Congress, are hostile to any significant tightening of gun laws.