Biden mourns victims in Virginia Walmart shooting

President Biden on Wednesday mourned the victims of a shooting inside a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., noting it took place during the week of Thanksgiving.

Six people were killed when a gunman, who was an employee of the Walmart, opened fire on Tuesday night. The gunman also died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, one of our most cherished holidays that brings us together as Americans and as families, when we hug our loved ones and count our blessings,” Biden said in a statement. “But because of yet another horrific and senseless act of violence, there are now even more tables across the country that will have empty seats this Thanksgiving. There are now more families who know the worst kind of loss and pain imaginable.”

Biden also mourned the victims of a shooting at the University of Virginia earlier this month, when a gunman killed three people on campus.

He reiterated his call for stronger gun control laws after he signed a bipartisan gun violence prevention bill earlier this year. The president has long called for an assault weapons ban to be reinstated, which is an uphill battle with a Republican leadership in the House expected next year and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate in the next Congress.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, while discussing the shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Spring, Colo., over the weekend, said on Tuesday that the president is optimistic an assault weapons ban can pass.

“The president’s not going to stop until we ban assault weapons,” she said.