Like clockwork, you can be sure whenever a mass shooting occurs in our nation, elected leaders will be quick to offer up their heart-felt thoughts and prayers to the families of victims killed and to the injured.
Yesterday, the usual group of concerned politicians took to the Twittersphere after a gunman shot and killed 10 people and wounded 7 at a college in Oregon. Here are some of their messages:
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and all those affected by this terrible tragedy at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. – Sen. Pat Roberts
My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragedy at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College. – Sen. Dean Heller
I join in sending my thoughts and prayers to victims and their families and thanking first responders on the scene. – Rep. Steny Hoyer
But an angry President Obama was having none of this business as usual.
“Our thoughts and prayers are not enough,” declared Obama in comments made from the White House briefing room. The president urged voters to demand changes to our nation’s gun laws by pressing their elected officials for action.
Said the president, “Somehow, this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine … we’ve become numb to this.”
“I hope and pray that I don’t have to come out again during my tenure as president to offer my condolences to families in these circumstances,” Obama said. “But based on my experience as president, I can’t guarantee that — and that’s terrible to say. And it can change.”
With about 15 months remaining until the end of his term, and having now spoken after more than a dozen senseless killings during his administration, the odds of President Obama not having to offer his condolences to any more families of shooting victims are as slim as any sensible gun legislation passing through Congress.
These politicians are beholden to NRA and until that cord is cut, these senseless shooting of innocent students and people will continue
Charlie, I read a few conservative blogs. The comments these yahoos are posting attack Obama and not the spineless legislators who refuse to pass any kind of sensible gun laws. Pathetic!
People should be voting for politicians with C or less ratings from the NRA, not A’s. A low rating should be seen as a badge of honor and common sense. But our politicians are spineless. Their only concern is pandering and getting reelected.
Anne, sad but true.
Yes, it’s senseless! Yes, it’s another tragedy! Yes, we need gun law legislation, background checks and the rest! But, it’s so far more complicated than that! It extends to our mental health programs and how do we pinpoint every individual who should be in treatment, and isn’t, and has slipped between the cracks? There’s no one simple answer! It’s a problem that is so complex! An answer is light years away!
No one is saying there is one single or simple answer. But you seem to be suggesting that because the problem is so complex, we should just resign ourselves to the fact that these tragedies will happen. A journey is started with one single step. Over 90% of all Americans (including gun owners) support universal background checks. Right now, in many states, criminals and the mentally ill can get their hands on guns without a problem. Look at it this way… the state requires you to pass a driving test before you are given the right to operate a car on the road. Does this eliminate all bad drivers? Does it eliminate all accidents? Of course not. So should we just eliminate the test and give a license to anyone who wants one? Of course not! The governmental restriction is a common sense way to deal with the use of a deadly instrument … a car. We should be looking to make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get guns, not easier. That’s just common sense. But because our weak-kneed politicians are bought and paid for by the gun lobby, they will not do what the vast majority of Americans want but what their handlers (who supply much needed campaign cash) want. Last time I checked, we were no longer living in the wild west. Does every man, woman and child in our country need a gun? As it is, there are more guns than people in our beloved country.