Image Source: Stefani Reynolds / AFP
Several high-profile figures in the U.S. government have called for stricter gun control in the wake of the recent Texas shooting. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Sen. Chris Murphy have chimed in to the conversation, expressing condemnation.
Biden said, “We as a nation have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby. When in God’s name do we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”
The suspected shooter, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, is now in custody after police responded to the incident at 11:30 am on Tuesday.
“Tonight, I ask the nation to pray for them”
Joe Biden was not happy about the lack of progress on gun control in America, and he made his feelings clear to the public.
Meanwhile, the Vice President has also expressed her sympathies to the family of those who died and said something needs be done about it.
Harris told the public, “As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action and understand the nexus between what makes for reasonable and sensible public policy to ensure something like this never happens again.”
“I would normally say in a moment like this — we would all say naturally — that our hearts break. But our hearts keep getting broken,” she added.
Senators Chris Murphy, D-Conn, courageously stepped onto the Senate platform stating his strong condemnation of the incident. “Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate, why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job, of putting yourself in position of authority if your answer as the slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing?”
“I’m here on this floor to beg, to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues,” Murphy told other lawmakers.
“Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely.”
Republican lawmakers, on the other hand, have dissented the calls saying mental illness prompted the 18-year-old to shoot the unsuspecting citizens. This said, they have called for a focus on addressing mental illness – with which Murphy disagreed.
“We have mass shooting after mass shooting and, you know, spare me the bullshit about mental illness,” Murphy told the press. “We don’t have any more mental illness than any other country in the world.”
“It is time for all in Congress to heed the will of the American people and join in enacting the House-passed bipartisan, commonsense, life-saving legislation into law,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, describing the incident as a ‘cold-blooded massacre.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, held a dissenting opinion saying that gun laws should not be reformed since it is not effective.
However, President Biden is strong on his call. “Our prayer tonight is those parents lying in bed trying to figure out, will I be able to sleep again? What do I say to my other children? What happens tomorrow?”
Opinions expressed by US Insider contributors are their own.
