New rules as Biden slams gun ‘epidemic’

WASHINGTON: One person was dead and several in a critical condition following a shooting in Texas just hours after President Joe Biden hailed American gun violence an “epidemic” and an “international embarrassment”.

The suspect was “in custody,” according to the police department in the east Texas town of Bryan where the attack took place at a cabinet manufacturing business.

Officials said the individual, a worker at Kent Moore Cabinets, where he carried out the shooting, wounded one officer in the incident.

According to Police Chief Eric Buske, four additional victims were transported to the hospital “in critical condition with gunshot injuries”.

The Bryan Police Department confirmed a total of seven victims, which also included one person with a minor injury and another with a separate medical issue “related to the incident”.

The incident follows recent mass gun attacks in Colorado, Georgia and California, with nearly 40,000 people in the US dying annually from shootings.

Mr Biden (pictured) on Thursday called for US gun violence to end as he unveiled six new executive measures.

“This is an epidemic, for God’s sake, and it has to stop,” he said, calling shootings “a public health crisis”.

The President wants to limit “ghost guns” — firearms built from home kits — and make it easier for people to flag family members who shouldn’t be allowed to purchase firearms.

Another proposed rule will be tightening regulations on arm braces designed to stabilise pistols, a device used by the man who killed 10 people in Colorado last month. Other measures include boosting support for agencies involved in tackling violence and ordering the first report on firearms trafficking in the US since 2000.