WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden is heading to Lewiston, Maine to mourn with a community where 18 people were killed in the deadliest mass shooting in state history. It’s the type of trip that is becoming far too familiar.

“Too many times the president and first lady have traveled to communities completely torn apart by gun violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on the eve of the Bidens’ trip on Friday. “We can’t accept it as normal.”

In addition to those killed, 13 people were injured in the Oct. 25 shootings at a bar and a bowling alley.

The Bidens will pay their respects to the victims, meet with first responders and grieve with families and community members affected by the shootings.

The president has said he’s determined to fight gun violence in the U.S. He created the first-ever White House office of gun violence prevention, which is charged with finding solutions and fully implementing landmark gun safety legislation enacted last year. He’s also pushing for a ban on so-called assault weapons.

The president has visited many communities scarred by mass shootings.

“There are too many other schools, too many other everyday places that have become killing fields, battlefields here in America,” Biden said during a speech on gun violence last year.

As of Friday, there have been at least 37 mass killings in the U.S. so far in 2023, leaving at least 195 people dead, not including shooters who died, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today.

The shooting has many searching for answers.

Elizabeth Seal, whose husband Josh Seal was killed in the Maine shootings, said previously she was frustrated to learn that semi-automatic weapons were used.

“In general, I have no issue with the use of guns. Some people feel more comfortable having a gun for protection or for some it’s a hunting tradition,” Seal, who communicated through an ASL interpreter because she’s deaf., told the AP earlier this week.

“But why do we have semi-automatic weapons available that people can get? That can cause such severe devastation? I don’t see the point. There’s no good reason for that.”