Biden to visit Uvalde in aftermath of school mass shooting

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Uvalde, Texas on Sunday in the aftermath of a school mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to "grieve with the community that lost twenty-one lives in the horrific elementary school shooting," the White House announced on Thursday.

The gunman -- identified as 18-year-old Uvalde High School student Salvador Rolando Ramos -- was killed by responding officers. He used two AR-style rifles, both legally purchased, for the attack.

"The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong," Biden said in a speech from the White House on Tuesday night.

He has also called out the influential gun lobby in the United States and urged Congress to pass gun control legislation in the wake of rising firearms-related violence.

Senate Republicans have signaled a willingness to talk with Democrats on gun legislation that has long been stalled on Capitol Hill.

Students across the United States held walk-outs on Thursday to protest against gun violence and the inaction of politicians.

In Rhode Island, students from schools in Providence lay down for three minutes outside the Rhode Island State House, according to a tweet from state lawmaker Tiara Mack.

Hundreds of gun control activists gathered on the lawn outside of the northeastern corner of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to demand action on what they called the "gun violence epidemic."

"This is a uniquely American crisis," Moms Demand Action gun control advocacy group founder Shannon Watts said.

"Parents across the rest of the developed world kiss their kids goodbye as they head off to school and don't have to give it a second thought, because they don't have 400 million guns flooding their streets, homes, and schools," Watts added.

The United States has seen at least 214 mass shootings so far this year, according to an online database that keeps a record of the country's gun violence incidents.

More than 17,000 people have died in gun-related episodes across the United States over the past five months, including at least 653 children and teenagers.