In December 2012, President Barack Obama made an emotional statement in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in which a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7 and six adult staff members (via CNN). Almost a decade later, President Joe Biden addressed the nation after a gunman attacked an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen children and two adults were killed. This marks the second deadliest school shooting in United States history, according to CNN.
When President Biden delivered his televised address in the aftermath of the massacre, he spoke to the public about the importance of gun reform. “As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done,” Biden said at The White House (via The Guardian). “I am sick and tired of it. We have to act.”
Standing by his side was First Lady Jill Biden, and she had some remarks of her own.
Jill Biden Is ‘Heartbroken’ Over The Uvalde, Texas Mass Shooting
First Lady Jill Biden has talked about what it means to be a first lady. She said it’s a job that’s “24 hours a day.” Not only did she stand by her husband’s side in the Roosevelt Room while he gave remarks in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas elementary school mass shooting, but the first lady also took to Twitter to express her thoughts on the horrific tragedy.
“Lord, enough,” she tweeted. “Little children and their teacher. Stunned. Angry. Heartbroken.”
Before she became first lady, Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education, worked as a classroom teacher for over 30 years, according to her White House biography. In addition to performing her duties as first lady, she is also a professor at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught since 2009.
News outlets and publications are continuing to report on the tragedy. CNN noted that some Uvalde parents reportedly had to wait until late into the evening to learn if their children had survived.
This morning President Joe Biden took to Twitter, writing: “We know common sense gun laws can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban — mass shootings went down. When the law expired — mass shootings tripled.”
