U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday urged Republicans in Congress to support a ban on assault or high-capacity weapons in the wake of the country's latest shooting in Maine.
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This comes in the wake of the Lewiston, Maine, massacre, in which a military reserve and weapons instructor killed at least 22 people and wounded between 50 and 60 others in a double shooting at a bowling alley and a restaurant in the town.
"As we mourn another tragedy, I urged Republican lawmakers in Congress to do their duty to protect the American people," Biden said in a statement.
The U.S. president acknowledged that there has been progress with the passage of a consensus bill between Republicans and Democrats to improve gun safety, however, this is "simply not enough," Biden said.
These measures include the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, two dozen executive actions, and the creation of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Biden called for a deal to ban assault weapons and pass a universal safety check for anyone who wants to buy a gun, as well as measures to mandate safe gun storage and end immunity from liability for manufacturers.
"This is the least we owe every American who will now bear the scars - physical and mental - of this latest attack," he said.
"For countless Americans who have survived and been traumatized by gun violence, a shooting like this reopens deep and painful wounds. Too many Americans have had a family member killed or injured as a result of gun violence. That is not normal, and we cannot accept it," the president added.
Currently, law enforcement continues to search for the perpetrator of Wednesday's attack, who has been identified as Robert R. Card, 40. He is known to be a firearms instructor and a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.