Comparing Trump and Obama reactions to mass shootings - NEWS TODAY
Channel: NEWS TODAY
Date: 2017-10-03

Comparing Trump and Obama reactions to mass shootings - NEWS TODAY

The sheer number of mass shootings in America means that presidents – and recent presidents more than most -- have had to deal with the aftermath.

Former President Obama addressed mass shootings roughly 18 times during his administration, with some of his most damning comments coming exactly two years before this weekend's deadly shooting in Las Vegas.

For Obama, it was the shooting at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon, where nine people were killed Oct. 1, 2015. And for President Trump, it was the Sunday shooting at a country music concert in Las Vegas, where at least 59 people were killed and 527 others injured.

While both mass shootings included deaths, life-saving first responders and acts of heroism, the two presidents’ responses were starkly different.

The 2015 Roseburg shooting

Obama opened his remarks in the press briefing room by saying "there's been another mass shooting in America."

"That means there are more American families -- moms, dads, children -- whose lives have been changed forever," he said.

Obama went on to talk about how the response of many people to mass shootings has become almost routine, and to criticize those who only offered words instead of actions.

"Our thoughts and prayers are not enough,” he said. “It’s not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America -- next week, or a couple of months from now.”

"Of course, what’s also routine is that somebody, somewhere will comment and say, Obama politicized this issue. Well, this is something we should politicize. It is relevant to our common life together," Obama said.

"When roads are unsafe, we fix them to reduce auto fatalities. We have seatbelt laws because we know it saves lives. 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 do under such regulations doesn’t make sense," he added,

Obama wasn't the only one calling for action.

Then-candidate Trump also reacted to the Roseburg shooting and shared his thoughts with ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos.

"No matter how you cut it, you have people that are mentally ill and they have problems and they're going to slip through the cracks," Trump said.

He went on to say that "the gun laws have nothing to do with this" but said he wouldn't be passive if he were president.

"This isn't guns. This is about, really, mental illness. And I feel very strongly about it. And, again, politically correct, oh, we're going to solve the problem. They'll be no problem," Trump said in 2015.

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