Joe Biden calls for assault rifles to be banned after Colorado rampage

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Flowers on the car of police officer Eric Talley: He was the first to arrive at the scene and lost his life in the exchange of fire

Photo: ALYSON MCCLARAN / REUTERS

One day after the heavy gun attack in the state of Colorado, there is still much uncertainty: A 21-year-old suspect has been taken into custody and accused of tenfold murder.

The police have not yet given any information about the motive.

US President Joe Biden reacted shaken: "At the moment a lot is still unclear," said Biden.

But it is clear that ten people have had their future stolen.

He was devastated.

On Monday, a gunman in Colorado killed ten people in a supermarket.

The attack occurred in a shopping complex with several shops and cafes in the town of Boulder.

The fatalities were between 20 and 65 years old - including a police officer.

It was the second major gun attack in the United States with multiple deaths in a week.

Only last week there had been fatal attacks on three massage parlors in the state of Georgia.

Eight people were shot, including six women of Asian origin.

Biden calls for tightening gun laws

"We have to act," Biden said at the White House in Washington.

"We can save lives." The Democrat called on the Senate to pass two bills that have already been passed by the Democratically dominated House of Representatives, with which arms buyers and owners are to be scrutinized more strictly.

"That shouldn't be a party-political matter," he warned and demanded that war-like weapons such as assault rifles be banned.

Both have been discussed in the US for a long time, but have not yet found the necessary majorities in Congress.

Many Republicans are reluctant to tighten gun laws.

The gun lobby is very strong in the United States.

The president ordered US flags to be raised at half-mast across the country to commemorate the victims of Colorado.

This applies until Saturday at public buildings, military bases and US diplomatic missions abroad.

Former US President Barack Obama was also shocked by the bloodshed in Colorado and called for stricter gun laws.

It is long overdue to fight the gun violence epidemic.

The "resistance of cowardly politicians" and the pressure of the gun lobby must and could be overcome.

It should not be the case that the pandemic alone will reduce the number of firearm attacks in the country.

In the United States, there are regular fatal incidents involving firearms that are easy to buy there.

During the corona pandemic and the restrictions on social life, bloody shootings had recently become a little rarer.

Two of the worst gun attacks in recent US history had occurred in Colorado in the past few decades.

At Columbine High School in Littleton, two teenagers shot and killed twelve classmates and a teacher in April 1999.

They then committed suicide.

In June 2012, a 24-year-old man opened fire in a movie theater in Aurora town, killing twelve people.

The gunman was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

kim / dpa / AFP / Reuters