What the heck. Ten people were killed today at a community college in Oregon. Another mass shooting. Oh Lord. "Guns don't kill people...mass murderers kill people."
UPDATED, 1:43 AM. This happened very recently apparently. The reports are conflicting. One, from a TV station, has it as 13 dead. That includes the murderer, Chris Harper Mercer, who died in a shootout with police. Another, rawstory, describes Mercer as a "terrorist" in its lede.
-Every time this happens President Obama, quite properly in my view, blames it on a lack of gun control. Tonight he told reporters in the White House press room, "There’s been another mass shooting in America--this time, in a community college in Oregon," The Washington Post describes the president's delivery as "flat," and matter of fact. The Post describes the president as "emotional" and "visibly frustrated." The president continued: "That means there’s another community stunned with grief, and communities across the country are forced to relive their own anguish, and parents across the country who are scared because they know it might have been their families and their children."
"But as I said just a few months ago," he said, his voice rising to a higher pitch, "and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough."
UPDATED, 1:43 AM. This happened very recently apparently. The reports are conflicting. One, from a TV station, has it as 13 dead. That includes the murderer, Chris Harper Mercer, who died in a shootout with police. Another, rawstory, describes Mercer as a "terrorist" in its lede.
-Every time this happens President Obama, quite properly in my view, blames it on a lack of gun control. Tonight he told reporters in the White House press room, "There’s been another mass shooting in America--this time, in a community college in Oregon," The Washington Post describes the president's delivery as "flat," and matter of fact. The Post describes the president as "emotional" and "visibly frustrated." The president continued: "That means there’s another community stunned with grief, and communities across the country are forced to relive their own anguish, and parents across the country who are scared because they know it might have been their families and their children."
"But as I said just a few months ago," he said, his voice rising to a higher pitch, "and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough."
"It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel," he said, punctuating the word "anger" with added emphasis. "And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted some place else in America."
After noting how the country is willing to devote enormous resources to address other threats to human life, ranging from terrorist strikes to unsafe bridges, Obama questioned why there is a different response when it comes to guns.
"So the notion that gun violence is somehow different? That our freedom, and our Constitution, prohibits any modest regulation of how we use a deadly weapon, when there are law-abiding gun owners all across the country who could hunt and protect their families and do everything they could do under such regulations," he asked. "doesn’t make sense."
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"Somehow this has become routine," he said, looking a bit incredulous at the prospect. "The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine."
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...he noted that during an interview in July he bemoaned the fact that the United States was the "one advanced nation on earth" that has not adopted "common-sense gun safety measures" in the fact of multiple mass shootings.
"And later that day there was a mass shooting in a movie theater in Lafayette Louisiana. That day," he said, his voice strained.
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"And each time this happens," he vowed, "I’m going to bring this up. Each time this happens I am going to say we can actually do something about it, but we’re going to have to change our laws."
"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. But based on my experience as president," he said, looking grim, "I can’t guarantee that. And that’s terrible to say. And it can change."
And after uttering a prayer for the victims and their families, the president turned and walked out of the room. The press corps sat in their seats, silent.
Terrible event, well addressed by the president, very exasperating and heartbreaking. Oh the writing there by the Post reporter, Juliet Eilperin. Sensational. She captures the moment in the round, the president's reaction and the press corps'.
UPDATED, 2:52 am. The shooting began at 1:37 pm local time, not "very recently." Ten killed according to most reports now, not 13, including the murderer. Not a "terrorist," "mentally ill" according to President Obama.
UPDATED, 2:52 am. The shooting began at 1:37 pm local time, not "very recently." Ten killed according to most reports now, not 13, including the murderer. Not a "terrorist," "mentally ill" according to President Obama.
