US President Joe Biden has called for an assault weapons ban after a mass shooting at a parade to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' victory in Sunday's Super Bowl.
One person was killed and 21 were injured in the attack in Kansas City.
Among the injured were nine children - all of whom are expected to recover - and eight people who sustained life-threatening injuries.
Players from the team were still on stage when gunfire rang out, causing mayhem as people fled for cover.
Statement from the Kansas City Chiefs pic.twitter.com/erKsrF3SX8
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 14, 2024
In a statement, US President Joe Biden said a massacre at an event to celebrate a Super Bowl win “cuts deep in the American soul.”
He urged Americans to email their elected representatives and support tighter gun control measures in Congress.
“We’ve now had more mass shootings in 2024 than there have been days in the year,” Mr Biden said.
“The epidemic of gun violence is ripping apart families and communities every day. Some make the news. Much of it doesn’t. But all of it is unacceptable.
“We have to decide who we are as a country.
“For me, we’re a country where people should have the right to go to school, to go to church, to walk the street — and to attend a Super Bowl celebration — without fear of losing your life to gun violence.”
Kansas City.
Atlanta.
D.C.
Today, six years since Parkland, acts of gun violence cut deep in the American soul.
Jill and I pray for those killed and injured today, and for our country to find the resolve to end the senseless epidemic of gun violence tearing us at the seams. pic.twitter.com/sqr5ww1G5O— President Biden (@POTUS) February 15, 2024
An assault weapons ban passed the US Congress in 1994 under President Bill Clinton but expired after 10 years.
For the ban to be renewed it would have to pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives - the latter of which is controlled by the Republican Party, which has traditionally supported gun rights.
Main image: A person is taken to an ambulance after an incident following the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade. Picture by: Alamy.com
