Biden calls on Congress to act after Texas mall massacre: ‘Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar’

President puts impetus on Republicans as GOP politicians blame anger, ‘evil forces’

President Joe Biden made it clear that he believes the conservative right bears the responsibility to act and offer solutions on Sunday after America awoke to news of the latest horrific massacre to strike a public place.

In a statement released by the White House, the president said that Republicans could not simply “shrug” away the latest news and must instead act to reduce the number of guns prevalent in the United States.

“Yesterday, an assailant in tactical gear armed with an AR-15 style assault weapon gunned down innocent people in a shopping mall, and not for the first time. Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar. And yet, American communities have suffered roughly 200 mass shootings already this year, according to leading counts. More than 14,000 of our fellow citizens have lost their lives, credible estimates show. The leading cause of death for American kids is gun violence,” said the president.

“Too many families have empty chairs at their dinner tables. Republican Members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough,” Mr Biden continued. “Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”

The House and Senate, under the leadership of Democrats in both chambers, last year passed the first major gun control legislation at the federal level in decades. The legislation allowed for the expansion of background checks and worked to create a grant program to encourage states to pass red flag laws.

But the legislation did little to address the overall prevalence and availibility of guns in American society, and the tide of mass shootings continues unabated with new attacks making the headlines seemingly every week.

Texas itself has recently been the site of several other acts of mass gun violence, leading to a particular pressure on state lawmakers for action. Gov Greg Abbott, a Republican, has faced scathing criticism in the wake of the latest attack over a 2015 tweet resurfaced by his critics in which he calls on his state’s residents to buy more guns.

With Republicans now in control of the US House of Representatives, the possibility of any legislation reaching the Senate that does not constitute a dead-on-arrival attempt at political messaging is low; the chances of another major piece of gun control reform passing through both chambers at present is almost nonexistent.

Still, the political reality of the situation does little to quell the slow-boiling anger that has been growing across the US for years as more and more mass shootings occur with greater frequency and lawmakers find little success in enacting real solutions.