Biden demands ‘urgent’ gun reform as Sacramento shooting victims named
‘We must do more than mourn; we must act’
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Your support makes all the difference.US President Joe Biden has called on Congress to introduce “urgent” gun reforms following a mass shooting in Sacramento, California, over the weekend.
Mr Biden said in a statement on Sunday that the US needed to “urgently” introduce a number of reforms to stop atrocities, including a ban on so-called “ghost guns”, which are manufactured privately.
Citing a number of reforms already introduced by his administration, Mr Biden added that more needed to be done, including laws requiring background checks for all gun sales.
“Today, America once again mourns for another community devastated by gun violence,” Mr Biden said of the Sacramento shooting, which killed six people. “But we must do more than mourn; we must act”.
His statement followed a mass shooting in the entertainment area of Sacramento on Sunday morning, in which six people were killed and a dozen others were injured.
At least two gunmen are on the run, according to police, and video shared to social media appeared to show people fleeing the scene as gunshots rang out. An investigation is ongoing.
Police say three men and three women were among the victims, who have not been formally named by authorities. Two victims were named by family and friends as Sergio Harris, 38, and DeVasia Turner, 29, The Sacramento Bee and ABC10 reported.
“The scale of violence that just happened in our city is unprecedented during my 27 years here,” said Sacramento police chief Kathy Lester at a Sunday press briefing.
“We are shocked and heartbroken by this tragedy. But we are also resolved as an agency to find those responsible and to secure justice for the victims and the families.”
Mr Biden’s remarks also included calls for Congress to “repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability” for mass shootings, and for lawmakers to pass a budget proposal to provide cities with more funding to tackle gun crime.
While California has one of the toughest gun control laws in the country, only New York has passed laws allowing victims to sue gun manufacturers for shootings. A similar effort is underway in California to hold companies accountable.
The remarks were among the strongest yet by Mr Biden on gun control, and come after a string of deadly shootings in the US this year, and the second mass shooting in Sacramento in recent weeks.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
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