Uvalde: President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are expected to visit Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday to pay respects to the victims

The White House said the Bidens would “mourn with the community who lost 21 lives in the horrific Robb Elementary School shooting.” Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president will meet with the community and religious leaders and families of the victims.

Jean-Pierre, the parent of an elementary school student, made an impassioned plea at the White House for lawmakers to unite to end gun violence.

“These were elementary school kids, they should lose their first teeth and not lose their lives,” she said.

Asked about the adequacy of the planned National Rifle Association conference in Houston this weekend, Jean-Pierre said: “Inappropriate is that the leadership of the National Rifle Association has demonstrated time and again that it contributes to the gun violence issue, isn’t it to try to solve it.”

“It is shameful that the NRA and its allies stand in the way of any attempt to advance action that we all know will save lives,” she said.

Jean-Pierre echoed Biden, who spoke from personal experience in his Tuesday night speech about the pain of losing a child, and urged the country to tighten gun laws in response to the shooting.

“When in God’s name are we going to take a stand against the gun lobby?” he said. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?”

RELATED: Uvalde school shooting schedule: How the deadly school shooting unfolded

The Associated Press contributed to this report.