Washington:

A day after a shooting incident in United State’s Georgia left four people dead, US President Joe Biden has called for a complete ban on assault weapons.

Speaking at an event on Thursday, President Biden said, “I’d like to say a few words about the school shooting yesterday. As a nation, we cannot continue to accept the carnage of gun violence. I’m a gun owner. I believe strongly in the amendment. We need more than thoughts and prayers,” CNN quoted the president as saying.

While urging the US Congress to take strong action for gun control in the US, he reached out to Republican lawmakers, saying some of its leaders should “finally say enough is enough”, adding that “We have to do something together. Let’s ban assault weapons.”

Mr Biden further said, “I realise I’m in a rural area, like the rural parts of my state, where guns — we all have them and it’s not popular to talk about it, but the truth is, there’s a difference between rational and irrational.”

He acknowledged that the decision “won’t bring back those children.” However, it would “help save lives if we do the things we’re talking about.” He went on to say, “We can do if we do it together…and I really think we can.”

JOE BIDEN’S APPEAL

Joe Biden has been appealing for a total ban on assault weapons across the United States. He has been calling for the ban for a long time, but has been stymied by Republican leaders in Congress.

Mr Biden also called for proper check of background checks, an end to immunity for gun manufacturers and for parents who allow their children to have weapons to be held accountable, according to a CNN report.

SCHOOL SHOOTING IN GEORGIA

At least four people, including two students, were killed and nine others wounded when a another student from the same high school opened fire in the US state of Georgia on Wednesday.

The suspected gunman was caught and is currently in custody. He was identified as 14-year-old Colt Cray, a student of Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, which is around an hour’s drive from state capital Atlanta.

Two of the people killed were students and two were teachers. Law enforcement agencies are still investigating the shooting and the motive behind it.

USA’s GUN VIOLENCE PROBLEM

The school shooting in Georgia is the latest among dozens across the US in recent years, including deadly ones in Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, Newtown, and Uvalde, Texas.

So far, at least 385 mass shooting incidents have taken place in the US in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which, like CNN, considers mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day.