President Joe Biden delivered an emotional call for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman opened fire at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.

�When in God�s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?� Biden said at the White House shortly after returning from a five-day trip to Asia that was bookended by tragedy.

With first lady Jill Biden standing by his side in the Roosevelt Room, Biden added, �I am sick and tired. We have to act.�

At least 18 students were killed, according to a state senator who said he was briefed by law enforcement, in addition to a teacher.

Just two days before Biden left on his trip, he met with victims� families after a hate-motivated shooter killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

The back-to-back tragedies served as sobering reminders of the frequency and brutality of an American epidemic of mass gun violence.

�These kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world,� Biden said. �Why?�

He directed that American flags be flown at half-staff through sunset Saturday in honor of the victims in Texas.

Vice President Kamala Harris said earlier that people normally declare in moments like this, �our hearts break � but our hearts keep getting broken … and our broken hearts are nothing compared to the broken hearts of those families.�

�We have to have the courage to take action … to ensure something like this never happens again,� she said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was briefed on the shooting by deputy chief of staff Jen O�Malley-Dillon and other members of his senior team aboard Air Force One.

Shortly before landing in Washington, Biden spoke with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from the presidential plane �to offer any and all assistance he needs in the wake of the horrific shooting in Uvalde, TX,� White House communications director Kate Bedingfield tweeted.

(AP)