WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Tuesday said gun violence was tearing apart U.S. communities after mass shootings in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Fort Worth claimed the lives of at least 10 people ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

Much more action is needed to "address the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart," Biden said in a statement released by the White House. He called on Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress to negotiate with his fellow Democrats on gun reforms.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot)