Washington – A visibly frustrated President Barack Obama said Thursday that thoughts and prayers are no longer enough as Americans respond to another deadly school shooting, and he challenged voters wanting to deal with the problem to vote for elected officials who will do something.
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Obama addressed the nation from the White House after 13 people were killed by a 20-year-old gunman at Umpqua Community College in southwestern Oregon. As he noted, he’s done this before. Mass shootings have become embedded in the arc of Obama’s presidency. He’s traveled to Aurora, Colorado; Tucson, Arizona; Charleston, South Carolina, and numerous other cities to mourn victims of gun violence.
Obama, with some anger in his voice, said the nation has become numb to such shootings and the response has become routine. He called for changes in the nation’s gun laws, though it’s unclear at this stage whether the changes often proposed would have prevented Thursday’s massacre.
The White House’s failed push for gun control legislation after the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, shooting — in which 20 children and six adults were killed at an elementary school — deeply frustrated Obama. With little change in Washington’s political dynamic, he hasn’t made a concerted effort to renew the gun control effort. In responding to Thursday’s shooting, Obama asked how anyone with a straight face can make the argument that more guns will make people safer.
“I’d ask the American people to think about how they can get our government to change these laws and to save lives and to let young people grow up, and that will require a change of politics on this issue,” Obama said.
Obama said there is a gun for roughly every man, woman and child in the U.S.
“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.”
Just as he is numb to the feelings of the American people
You mean the way your are numb to Christians being massacared across the middle east
Well, we are numb enough that the first posters are making political points rather than talking about this new mass killing.
America is numb for what he has to say
Most of this kind of mass killings happened on his watch
thanx for opening your borders to EXTREMISTS & terrorists
It’s sad reading the responses to the article. When you so hate a guy that there is no room to agree on anything, that’s a problem. When you so hate him that irrational arguments become accepted, that’s a problem.
I don’t agree with the President on many things but let’s put this in perspective.
#3 In the President’s press conference, he explained why these shootings are a political problem. We, as a nation, cannot address the problem of mass shootings without the political will to do so. We don’t have good data on mass shootings,, can’t discuss access to guns, and have a weak mental health system. All do to politics.
#7 We don’t know that. Possibly true but we don’t have the data. Even so, to imply that Obama is responsible is a bit much.
#8 What? You do realize that the perp was American? This has *nothing* to do with our border.
Obama also caused the hurricane that is about to knock down all those sukkos.
US Becoming Numb to Obama…………
that is more like the reality of accepting stupidity for presidential actions.
its sad what happend but the decision to enforce gun legislation is based entirely on emotion. its easy to blame guns for this and not a mentally disturbed person or society.. no matter how much legislation you shove down our throats, this will only protect criminals.
Still ugly to say numn
All these libs and democrats come out to defend Obama even on his most vile actions. I wonder how they explain away Ben carson’s popularity among so many white republicans, after dems keep accusing us of being racists and the always-telling “heimsiher bigots.”
And the killing of that jewish couple is not counted by Obama. I as a Jew don’t care much about oregean