Biden calls for law change

US President Joe Biden has said that ‘‘the Second Amendment is not absolute’’ as he called for new limitations on firearms in the wake of this week’s massacre at a Texas elementary school.

When the amendment to the US Constitution was approved in 1791, Biden said, ‘‘you couldn’t own a cannon . . . There’s always been limitations’’.

Biden was speaking at the White House yesterday before signing an executive order on policing on the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death.

He said he would visit Texas with First Lady Jill Biden in the coming days to ‘‘hopefully bring some little comfort to the community’’.

‘‘As a nation, I think we must all be there for them,’’ he said. ‘‘And we must ask, when in God’s name will we do what’s needed to be done?’’

Schools across the country have increased security as a precaution after the killings of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on Wednesday. Seventeen people were also injured in the attack.

In Connecticut, where the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting killed 20 children and six staff, state police said they were sending extra troopers to schools, although no specific threats had been received.

Schools in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Virginia, Maryland and Florida also were among those increasing security and offering counselling.

The Uvalde gunman bought his guns legally days before the attack and soon after his 18th birthday, a briefing said.

Salvador Ramos, 18, bought one AR-style rifle from a federally licensed gun dealer in the Uvalde area on May 17, according to a state police briefing. The next day, he bought 375 rounds of ammunition, and then he bought a second rifle on May 20.

The governor of Texas said Ramos warned on social media minutes before the attack that he was going to shoot up a school.

About 30 minutes before the shooting, Ramos made three social media posts. According to Governor Greg Abbott, Ramos posted that he was going to shoot his grandmother, then that he had shot her, and then that he was going to shoot an elementary school. Abbott said Ramos had no known criminal or mental health history. law enforcement

A Facebook spokesman said the messages ‘‘were private oneto-one text messages that were discovered after the terrible tragedy’’, and Facebook was cooperating with investigators.

Instagram said it was also working with law enforcement to review an account that appeared to belong to the gunman.

A series of posts appeared on Instagram and TikTok in the days leading up to the shooting. One selfie appears to show the shooter in front of a mirror. Another photo shows a gun magazine. And on the day law enforcement officials believe Ramos bought the second rifle, a picture of two AR-style semi-automatic rifles appeared.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor yesterday to call out the Republican Party’s decades-long opposition to gun control legislation.

‘‘Maybe the thought of putting yourself in the shoes of these parents instead of in the arms of the NRA might let you wriggle free from the vice-like grip of the NRA to act on even a simple measure,’’ the New York Democrat said. ‘‘For the sake of these children . . . these beautiful children, please, damn it.’’

Schumer’s plea reflected a long history of congressional inaction on gun control since the Sandy Hook massacre. Democratic lawmakers have introduced numerous proposals that would have required a background check for the Texas gunman. All failed to pass, mostly due to Republicans using the filibuster.

Schumer pledged yesterday to move forward with or without Republican lawmakers.