US President Joe Biden is facing off against the powerful American gun lobby after calling for stronger laws in the wake of the latest mass shooting in Colorado.
Speaking from the White House on Tuesday, Mr Biden said gun control should not be a partisan political issue.
"I don't need to wait another minute - let alone an hour - to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future, and I urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act," Mr Biden said.
Mr Biden's stance puts him in opposition to the 150-year-old NRA, which boasts a membership of nearly five million people and holds a significant influence in American politics, particularly over the Republican party.
The Boulder incident is the latest of at least seven mass shootings in the United States over the past week - including three incidents on Saturday alone, as well as the murders of eight people at a series of .
The Boulder shooter was armed with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle and a handgun, according to arrest documents.
A city-wide ban on semi-automatic rifles and ten-round magazines, dating back to 2018, had just been struck down in a Colorado court.
A woman and her child bring flowers to a memorial outside a Boulder grocery store where multiple people, including a police officer, were killed in a shooting. Source: Sipa USA Michael Ciaglo-USA TODAY/Sipa US
Ten days before the shooting, the NRA said the decision gave gun owners "something to celebrate".
Change 'impossible to imagine'
Mr Biden on Tuesday called for a total ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, citing a ten year ban enacted by the Clinton administration in 1994.
The call for action from the president was swiftly rebuked by the NRA.
The organisation tweeted an image of the second amendment to the US Constitution, maintaining "the right of the people to keep and bear arms".
Associate Professor David Smith from the US Studies Centre, says the slim majority held by Democrats in the Senate means Mr Biden's ambitions would not eventuate.
"What Biden is proposing - which is really ambitious and the kind of action that would need to be taken for any chance of stopping the shootings - has absolutely no chance of getting through the Senate."
Dr Smith says that organisationally, the NRA has been at its worst state in decades, citing infighting and financial mismanagement.
However, he argues the gun lobby still has a huge sway over the Republican party, using its brand to sponsor pro-NRA candidates when politicians change course.
"Given that any vote on gun control legislation would require 60 votes in the Senate... I find it very hard to imagine ten Republican senators who would be prepared to [vote in favour]."
Victims identified
Police have announced they arrested 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa over the incident.
The gunman is alleged to have fired on shoppers at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, killing ten people.
The victims were aged from 20 to 65, and include Eric Talley, an 11-year veteran of the Boulder police force who was among the first on the scene.
Authorities say they are confident the shooter acted alone, although the motive for the shooting is not yet clear.
