Biden wants US Congress to reform American gun laws

US President Joe Biden has called on Congress to enact "commonsense" gun law reforms. His Sunday statement came after three years after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The Florida shooting had sparked outrage across the US and prompted fresh demands for firearms control.

Biden added he wants Congress to pass laws that would require background checks on all gun sales and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

"This administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call," Biden said in a statement marking the Valentine's Day shooting in 2018 that left 17 people dead and brought fresh attention to America's lax gun laws.

"We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer."

The confessed school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, who was 19 at the time, was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and fired between 100 and 150 rounds in a rampage that killed 14 students and three adult staff at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Biden said Congress must also eliminate "immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets."

Cruz was able to buy the assault rifle legally, despite having known mental health problems.

Earlier, with Donald Trump in the White House and the Republicans controlling the Senate at the time, legislation approved by the Democrats in the House of Representatives went nowhere.

To this end, Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said the House would try again.