“Since Columbine, more than 400 school shootings have exposed more than 370,000 students to the horrors of gun violence,” with entire communities “torn apart by senseless violence,” the US president said in a White House statement. Biden lamented that students across the country now learn “active shooter drills before they learn to read and write,” and insisted that “this violence must stop.” The US Democratic leader recalled that the two Columbine High School shooters acquired their assault weapons “with no background checks” shortly before carrying out their massacre. In the first mass school shooting in the United States, both shooters committed suicide when cornered by police after killing their victims on April 20, 1999. Joe Biden stressed that last week his administration implemented “the most significant expansion of background checks for gun sales since 1993,” in order to close the loophole that allowed the Columbine shooters to obtain their weapons. “This action means fewer guns will end up in the hands of domestic abusers, criminals, juveniles who are prohibited from purchasing firearms, and other dangerous people,” he noted in the statement. In the fight against this scourge, the current US administration enacted the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, “the most significant gun safety legislation in decades,” he added. The US president assured that he will continue to take action, but that Congress “must do its part,” and said he understands the frustration of the families of victims of these attacks, who have seen little action from politicians to prevent these tragedies. In this context, he reiterated the need for universal background checks, a national red flag law, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. “We need Congress to act so that communities are no longer subjected to the terror of gun violence,” Biden stressed. The Columbine massacre was followed by more than 400 school shootings, such as those in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. Read Also: Colorado tries to ban assault weapons 25 years after Columbine massacre (Portuguese version)