To Visit Texas Shooting Victim's Family, Biden: Hope It Brings Some Comfort To The Grieving And Traumatized

President Joe Biden. (Twitter: POTUS)

JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he and first lady Jill Biden would travel to Uvalde, Texas, in the coming days to comfort the families of those killed in an elementary school shooting.

Biden spoke at the White House to issue an executive order on police reform on the two-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. Floyd's death sparked protests across the country and the world.

The president added comments to his speech about the shooting of Uvalde, which police say was carried out by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. Americans are shocked by the latest death toll in a long series of mass shootings: 19 students and two teachers. "

"Jill and I will be traveling to Texas in the coming days to meet with the family to let them know we have their feelings, their pain, and, hopefully, bring some comfort to the shocked and grieving and traumatized community," Biden was quoted as saying. from Antara, Thursday

More than a week ago, he visited Buffalo, New York, to comfort the families of 10 people who were killed in a supermarket there--almost all black people--by a professed white supremacist. "I'm sick and tired of it," Biden said on Wednesday.

The White House gave no immediate details on when Biden would visit Uvalde, a small town with a population of under 16,000. The presidential visit required significant planning and logistics. All of this becomes more complicated for a city of that size.

How far governments can control access to firearms has been one of the most contentious issues in the United States. The issue is a conflict between those who say limiting the availability of weapons will save lives and those who argue that guns themselves are not the root cause of mass shootings and that the right to own a gun is protected by the US Constitution.

Biden urged the Senate to immediately give approval or confirmation to Steven Dettelbach, Biden's nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), whose mission includes enforcing US gun laws. Dettelbach, a former US attorney from Ohio, appeared at a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was critical to have an experienced leader at the helm of the agency after a seven-year hiatus, noting the key role ATF agents played in investigating the shootings of Buffalo and Uvalde.

"With daily gun violence plaguing too many of our communities, now is the time to give the ATF the leadership it needs to redouble its work to enforce our gun laws and make our communities safer," he said in a statement.

Biden also renewed his criticism of the US arms lobby, which has resisted efforts to impose tougher regulations on the arms industry.