Stephen King passionately calls for ‘gun control now’ following Uvalde school shooting

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The author Stephen King has called for “gun control now” following a Texas elementary school shooting which left 14 children and a teacher dead.

The incident happened earlier today (24 May) at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Police have identified the now-deceased 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a resident of Uvalde and student of the district’s high school, as the gunman.

“He shot and killed, horrifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday. “Mr Ramos, the shooter, himself is deceased and it is believed that responding officers killed him.”

Writing on Twitter, Stephen King commented “Stop the slaughter of the innocents” in a highly impassioned tone, as well as calling for tighter gun laws.

King has previously been outspoken about gun control in the US, writing an essay called Guns after the Sandy Hook shootings of 2012, which left 26 dead. In the essay King called for a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons, writing “when lunatics want to make war on the unarmed and unprepared, these are the weapons they use”.

Governor Abbott has released a new statement on the Texas school shooting, vowing to “fully investigate” the incident.

“Texans across the state are grieving for the victims of this senseless crime and for the community of Uvalde,” Abbott wrote. “The Texas Division of Emergency Management is charged with providing local officials all resources necessary to respond to this tragedy as the State of Texas works to ensure the community has what it needs to heal.”

Follow live updates on the incident here.