Biden appeals for tougher gun laws: 'How much more carnage?'

President Joe Biden speaks from the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Biden spoke Thursday night on the recent spate of mass shootings. The White House says he'll talk about his plans to press Congress on acting “to pass commonsense laws to combat the epidemic of gun violence that is taking lives every day.” (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden delivered an impassioned plea to Congress to act on gun control Thursday night in an address to the nation, calling on lawmakers to restore limits on the sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines after a string of mass shootings in the country.

Speaking at the White House, Biden sought to drive up pressure on Congress to pass stricter gun limits after such efforts failed following past attacks.

“How much more carnage are we willing to accept,” Biden said after last week’s shootings by an 18-year-old gunman, who killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and another attack on Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a gunman shot and killed four people and himself at a medical office.