In an angry speech last week, he called for tighter regulations on guns.
Now, Democrats on the campaign trail are picking up his call.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, talking tough on gun control, “how many people have to die before we actually act? It’s time for us to say wait a minute, we’re better than this. Our country is better than this.”
She called for tougher background checks, restrictions on military-style weapons and accountability for gun manufacturers. Gun control has become an issue on the campaign trail in the wake of Thursday’s mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.
But while Clinton and other Democrats are pushing change GOP contenders say not so fast. Conservatives like Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee say guns aren’t the issue.
“We have not so much a gun problem, we have a problem with sin and evil,” Huckabee states.
Survivors of previous mass shootings welcome the conversation. Kaitlin Roig-Debellis, a former Sandy Hook Elementary school teacher, says, “I am so incredibly grateful that gun control and gun sense are being discussed on the platform that they are in our country because they are such crucial issues.”
Speakers echoed that call at a Monday night vigil honoring the victims in Oregon. Michael Schill, University of Oregon President said, “in those jurisdictions with stricter gun control laws, we have fewer gun-related deaths. As a society, we must consider the connections between guns and violence.”
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.