US Vice-President Kamala Harris has called for a ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of two deadly mass shootings in the country.
That latest shooting occurred just ten days after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a shooting at a Texas elementary school.
Ms Harris said it was time to say “enough is enough” to gun violence, citing these and other incidents.
She went on to say that the solution was obvious, and that it included things like background checks and a ban on assault weapons.
“Everybody’s got to stand up and agree that this should not be happening in our country and that we should have the courage to do something about it,” she told the congregants at the funeral for 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield – the oldest of the victims in the attack.
The 18-year-old gunman in Tuesday’s shooting in Uvalde was armed with two AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles, at least one of which he purchased shortly after his birthday.
But attempts to implement universal background checks and bans on assault weapons, on the other hand, have met with resistance. In the United States, almost all Democrats support stricter controls, while only 24 percent of Republicans do.
Former Republican President Donald Trump called for better-protected schools rather than stricter gun laws on Friday.
He said at the National Rifle Association (NRA) meeting that decent Americans should be able to defend themselves against “evil” with firearms.
US President Joe Biden is expected to make his own call for stricter gun control. He urged Americans to “make their voices heard” against gun violence during a visit to Uvalde on Sunday.
