Democratic frontrunner for the presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton.
Democratic frontrunner the lone voice among 2016 presidential candidates, after horrific Virginia attack reignites issue of gun control
As the United States found itself swept up in another very public fatal shooting yesterday, which lead to the deaths of two reporters and the severe injuring of a businesswoman, the roster of 2016 presidential candidates took to Twitter to express their sorrow over the devastating attack.
None of the candidates however went further than mentioning that the families and friends of those killed were in their prayers — except Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, who posted on Twitter that she was “hearbroken and angry.”
“We must act to stop gun violence, and we cannot wait any longer,” Clinton wrote.
Minutes later, the former US secretary of state expanded on her words during a speech at a campaign event in Iowa, calling for actions to prevent guns from being “readily available” and “universal background checks.”
“We have got to do something about gun violence in America. And I will take it on,” she said in a video posted on Twitter.
“It’s hard. It’s a very political, difficult issue in America. But I believe we are smart enough, we are compassionate enough to figure out how to balance the legitimate second amendment rights with preventative measures and control measures so that whatever motivated this murderer, who eventually took his own life, we will not see more deaths. Needless, senseless deaths.
“Yes, I feel just great heartache at what happened and I want to reiterate how important it is (that) we not let another terrible incident go by without doing something… we’ve had so many terrible incidences of it in the last two years. But it happens every day.”
The White House backed the call for controls, saying the shooting was another example of gun violence that is “becoming all too common.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest, reflecting frustration that President Barack Obama has expressed over his inability to push through laws to tighten gun laws, told reporters that Congress could pass legislation that would have a “tangible impact on reducing gun violence in this country.”
“It’s hard. It’s a very political, difficult issue in America. But I believe we are smart enough, we are compassionate enough to figure out how to balance the legitimate second amendment rights with preventative measures and control measures so that whatever motivated this murderer, who eventually took his own life, we will not see more deaths. Needless, senseless deaths.”
‘Breaks my heart’
Speaking during an interview last night in Philadelphia, Obama said “it breaks my heart every time you read or hear about these kinds of incidents. What we know is that the number of people who die from gun-related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism.”
The United States owns 42 percent of the world’s 644 million civilian-owned guns, according to UNODC and the Small Arms Survey.
The politicians delivered their remarks after two television journalists were killed during a live broadcast in Virginia, shot by a suspect who was a former employee of the TV station and who called himself a “powder keg” of anger over what he saw as racial discrimination at work and elsewhere in the US.
The suspect, 41-year-old Vester Flanagan, shot himself as police pursued him on a Virginia highway hours after the shooting. Flanagan, who was African-American, died later at a hospital, police said. The journalists who were killed were reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27. Both journalists were white, as was a woman who they were interviewing. The woman was wounded and was in stable condition, reports said.
Social media posts by a person who appeared to be Flanagan — using the name Bryce Williams — indicated the suspect had grievances against the station, CBS affiliate WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia, which let him go two years ago. He also posted a shocking video of the attack filmed from the shooter’s point of view.
Republican silence
Candidates for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination weighed in on yesterday morning’s shooting but did not touch on gun control or rights. The GOP hopefuls were quick to tweet their “prayers and condolences” to those affected — all except Donald Trump, who remained uncharacterisally silent — and all of them were seemingly reading from the same songsheet with seven GOP hopefuls writing that they were either “heartbroken” or “saddened,” and all sending their thoughts and prayers to those affected.
“My prayers go out to the @WDBJ7 family and their tragic loss this morning,” Ben Carson tweeted, while Ted Cruz mirrored, “All of our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and loved ones of @WDBJ7’s Alison and Adam.” Jeb Bush said he was “shocked by the horrific murders in Roanoke. Columba (his wife)and I are praying for Alison, Adam and all those affected.” What was noticeably missing from their posts was condemnation of the shooter nor any mention of tighter gun controls.
Other key Democratic figures yesterday however called for tighter controls on obtaining firearms, meaning the issue may well return to the campaign trial. Virginia Governor, Terry McAuliffe said he would continue his efforts for controls, despite his proposals being rejected by his state legislature, while Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman who was shot in the head in 2011, said the “horror” of yesterday’s attack was there “for all to see.”
Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator seen as an outsider in the race, remained relatively silent, saying only that he was saddened by the “senseless deaths of Alison Parker and Adam Ward.”
Sanders has been criticized by other Democratic hopefuls, as recently as this week, for failing to back calls for gun control, seen as a consequence of a lack of support for the policy in Vermont and his vote against the 1994 Brady Bill.
@URLgoeshere
Originally published in the Buenos Aires Herald, on Thursday, August 27, 2015.