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US Senator Chris Murphy
Photo: Alex Brandon/AP
At least 19 children and a teacher are dead, according to the authorities shot by an 18-year-old: The massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas shocked the United States.
Immediately after the bloody crime, the country is again discussing stricter gun laws – as is so often the case after rampages.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy
made an impressive appeal
to his colleagues.
"What are we doing here?" Murphy said.
Just days after a shooting at a supermarket in upstate New York, "we've got another Sandy Hook on our hands," Murphy said, referring to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut that left 28 dead.
Murphy is a Senator for the US state of Connecticut and has been campaigning for stricter gun laws for years.
Murphy wrote on Twitter that he was determined to work pragmatically with Republican colleagues as well.
US President Joe Biden
had already pushed for stricter laws in a speech after the fact.
"The idea that an 18-year-old boy can walk into a gun store and buy two assault rifles is just wrong," the Democrat said.
"As a nation, we must ask ourselves when in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby."
Former
US President Barack Obama
tweeted his condolences to the affected families and criticized the opposition Republicans: “Our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness in any way to act to prevent these tragedies."
Chuck Schumer,
leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, announced on Tuesday (local time) that he would introduce legislation that would make so-called background checks for gun purchases nationwide necessary.
However, according to the AP news agency, there was initially no date for a vote.
Democrat
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
criticized Republicans on Twitter for their supposed double standards: They cannot be anti-abortion and "pro-life" on the one hand "and at the same time support laws that allow children to be in their schools, the elderly in... grocery stores, believers in their places of worship, survivors of abusers, or anyone in a crowded place.
It's a deification of violence.
And this has to end.«
Cruz accuses Democrats of politicizing the debate
However, it seems doubtful whether the incident will actually lead to greater willingness to compromise among Republicans.
Republican Texas
Senator Ted Cruz
immediately accused the Democrats of "politicizing" the Uvalde attack in order to limit gun rights.
He described the act to CNN as an “indescribable crime”.
Cruz said strict laws would not prevent such acts.
Instead, strict compliance with the law must be ensured on schoolyards and university campuses.
"We have a history of knowing that one of the most effective tools for keeping children safe is having armed law enforcement on campus," Cruz said.
According to the New York Times,
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
also told the Newsmax portal that it could save lives if "teachers and other leaders" were trained and armed.
Paxton is a Republican and has repeatedly spoken out against stricter gun laws in the past.
Biden's Democrats alone cannot push through significant tightening of gun laws.
They lack the necessary votes in the US Senate for far-reaching changes in the law.
Scholz: "Thoughts are with the injured and the grieving relatives"
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD)
also spoke about the fact in the morning
.
"Our thoughts are with the injured and the survivors of the victims of this unimaginable massacre, for which it is difficult to find words," said Scholz in English via Twitter.
fek/AFP
