The appalling shooting in a Texas elementary school, which killed at least 18 children and a teacher on Tuesday, immediately revived the debate on firearms in the United States, but without any prospect of outlets.

“Enough is enough” launched very moved, the American vice-president Kamala Harris, a few hours after the tragedy.

"We must find the courage to act," she added to Congress, helpless or reluctant to legislate despite the litany of shootings.

The tragic memory of Sandy Hook

“This is happening nowhere else than here, in the United States, and it is a choice”, for his part lambasted Senator Chris Murphy from the Senate chamber.

The elected representative represents the state of Connecticut, forever marked by the Sandy Hook shooting on December 14, 2012, when a 20-year-old man had killed 27 people, including 20 children aged 6 and 7.

“It is our choice to let this happen,” he assured, begging his colleagues to find a compromise to pass an ambitious national law on the issue.

The problem is that at present, it seems almost impossible.

In the United States, shootings are a recurring scourge that successive governments have so far been powerless to stem, as many Americans remain very attached to their guns.

Some 30% of adults own at least one firearm.

This is particularly the case in Texas, one of the states where it is the easiest to obtain a weapon.

In 2015, state governor Greg Abbott even said he was "ashamed" that Texas was "only" the second state in terms of gun purchases.

Biden's very narrow margin

In his speech Tuesday evening after the shooting, Joe Biden again insisted on the importance of taking action to regulate firearms.

A long-time defender of better supervision, the president had promised during his campaign to act on this front.

In April 2021, he unveiled a limited plan against what he denounced as an "epidemic" of gun violence.

But knowing full well that he is currently not in a position to have bold actions adopted by Congress on this ultra-sensitive subject, due to his very narrow parliamentary majority, Joe Biden has so far only been content with micromeasures.

No major progress has, for example, been announced on the subject of the verification of the criminal or psychological background of purchasers of individual weapons, which associations have been calling for for years.

“For too long, members of Congress have been talking empty words after these shootings, while opposing all efforts to save lives,” denounced the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Immediate response from the Republican camp, through the voice of Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

“Some have called for taking advantage of this to attack the second amendment of citizens who respect the law”, he denounced in reference to this amendment which guarantees the right to possess and bear arms.

There is therefore still a long way to go before achieving better regulation.

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