US must end epidemic of gun violence, Biden tells Congress after California deadly shooting

US President Joe Biden has called on Congress to implement measures to “end this epidemic of gun violence” hours after at least eight Americans were killed in another mass shooting incident.

Biden ordered the flag over the White House to "yet again" be lowered at half-staff on Wednesday after a gunman opened fire Wednesday morning at a rail yard serving Santa Clara County, California, and killed eight people.

The gunman, an employee of the Valley Transportation Authority, was among the dead, according to the police.

"I have the solemn duty of yet again ordering the flag to be lowered at half-staff, just weeks after doing so," Biden said in a statement.

"Every life that is taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation," he added, "We can, and we must, do more."

The president also issued a one-word plea: "Enough," saying that Congress should immediately "heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America."

“We are resolved to bring meaning to this tragic moment with real action to curb the gun violence crisis in our country,” he said.

The US president said that authorities “must address the root causes of these devastating acts at every level of government.”

The San Jose shooting is the latest in a series of major gun violence incidents this year, some of which took place just days apart, including in George, Colorado, South Carolina and Indiana.

Multiple killed, injured in shooting at California transit facility, suspect dead

Multiple people were killed and injured in a shooting at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) control center in the US state of California.

Last month, Biden declared gun violence an "epidemic and an international embarrassment," and called on lawmakers that it was "time" for officials "to act" and provide the American public with comprehensive gun legislation.

Lawmaker, however, regularly promise to pass gun control bills, but fail to pass meaningful gun law reforms.

Gun violence claims the lives of nearly 40,000 people each year across the US.

At least 12 people were killed in gun violence incidents across the US during the past weekend.

Over four weeks in March and April, the US saw three such shootings that involved mass casualties.

Eight were killed, including six women of Asian descent, at Atlanta-area spas in mid-March.

Less than a week later, 10 were killed at a supermarket shooting in Colorado and a few weeks after that, eight were killed at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis.

After the San Jose shooting, Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren, said in a tweet, “I’m horrified that our nation & the Santa Clara community keeps witnessing more & more acts of gun violence.”

In recent years, the US Democrats have called for universal background checks, which are broadly popular among Americans, as well as a ban on military-style “assault” weapons, but conservatives remain steadfastly against strict, new gun control

During his presidential campaign, Biden pledged to reinstate an assault weapons ban, create a voluntary gun buyback program and send a bill to Congress to repeal liability protections for gun manufacturers and close background check loopholes on his first day in office. 

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