Angry President Joe Biden issued an urgent call to impose new restrictions on firearms after a gunman opened fire and killed at least 19 children at an elementary school in Texas.

Biden spoke Tuesday night from the White House about an hour after returning from a five-day trip to Asia.

"When in the name of God will we stand up to guns?" Biden said passionately. "Why are we willing to live with this slaughter? Why do we keep allowing it to happen?"

With First Lady Jill Biden standing beside him, the president, who suffered the loss of two of his children, spoke in deeply moving terms about the grief of the victims' loved ones and the pain the surviving students will bear.

Biden said, "Losing a child is like ripping a part of your soul out." "There is a void in your chest. You feel like you are drowning in it and you will never be able to get out."

He called on the nation to hold prayers for the victims and their families, but also to work harder to prevent the next tragedy, saying, "It is time to turn this pain into action."

At least 19 students were killed at Robb Elementary School in the predominantly Latino town of Uvalde, Texas, according to local officials. The death toll also included two adults. Local police said the gunman was killed after officers shot him.

Just a week ago, Biden traveled to Buffalo to meet with the families of victims after a racially motivated gunman filled with hatred killed 10 Black people in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

The successive tragedies served as a stark reminder of the frequency and brutality of mass gun violence.

Biden said, "Rarely do these kinds of mass shootings happen anywhere else in the world," saying other countries have people filled with hatred or suffering from mental health issues, but no other industrialized country suffers from gun violence on the level of the United States. "Why?"

It was too early to know whether the latest outbreak of violence could break the political deadlock over tightening gun laws in the country, after many other incidents, including the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 26 people, including 20 children.

Biden said, "The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is wrong." He had previously called for a ban on assault-style weapons, as well as stricter federally mandated background checks and "red flag" laws aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of those with mental health problems.

Late Tuesday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer began moving toward potential action on two House-passed bills to expand federally required background checks for firearm purchases, but a vote date was not set.

Congress has been unable to pass substantive legislation on gun violence since bipartisan efforts to strengthen background checks on firearm purchases collapsed following the 2012 shooting.

Despite months of work at that time, the bill which had majority support in the Senate stalled and was unable to overcome the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward.

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair