WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden called for unity Sunday to tackle “the hatred that remains a stain on America’s soul” after a deadly mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, while government officials pleaded for federal action to end the “uniquely American phenomenon” of mass shootings.
Referring to the annual law enforcement ceremony at the US Capitol, Biden said he and his wife, Jill, were praying for those who had been shot “by a lone gunman armed with a weapon of war and a hateful soul” and their families.
Authorities say a white 18-year-old man with military equipment opened fire on shoppers and supermarket workers on Saturday, killing 10 people, including a retired Buffalo police officer, and injuring three others. Most of the victims are black.
Law enforcement officials said Sunday that the gunman studied local demographics while searching for places with high concentrations of blacks.
“We all need to work together to tackle the hatred that remains a stain on America’s soul,” Biden told the 41st Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service in honor of the dead law enforcement officers. “Our hearts are heavy again, but our determination must never, ever waver.
“No one understands this more than the people sitting in front of me,” he added. The White House said Bidens would travel to Buffalo on Tuesday to mourn the community.
Biden, who is speaking at the ceremony for the second time as president, has not responded to calls from New York officials – Gov. Katie Hochul and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown – for strong federal action to end what Brown said was “the unique American Phenomenon ”of mass shootings.
The president also made no mention of efforts to control stagnant weapons in Washington.
Brown expressed disappointment that “thoughts and prayers” and promises of action were offered after each mass shooting, only to be blocked by “some on one side of the aisle.”
“There seem to be people who believe that owning a weapon is more valuable than the sanctity of human life,” the mayor told NBC’s Meet the Press. “So I think people all over the country need to get up. They need to say louder and clearer that there must be arms control in this country. This is a unique American phenomenon. These mass shootings do not happen in other countries around the world. ”
Brown said he would like to see “reasonable arms control.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, said tougher gun measures were a “huge priority” for Democrats and the White House. She complained about the necessary 60-50 Senate threshold of 50-50, which made it difficult to advance such legislation, but she promised in CNN’s “State of the Union” that “we will not leave until the job is done.”
Hochul said most of the illegal weapons used on the streets of her cities came from other states. “We need a national response,” she told NBC.
“We need other countries to step up. We need the federal government of our country, “said Hochul, a Buffalo native.
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