Defiant Obama Calls for America to ‘Politicize’ Oregon College Shooting

A frustrated President Obama demanded change on gun control after the Oregon college shooting which grabbed the nation’s attention Thursday.

The president was clearly angry with the frequency of mass shootings in America — and critics who said he was politicizing the issue. “This is something we should politicize,” he said earnestly. “It is relevant to our common life together, to the body politic.”

Obama offered his sympathy for the victims of the shooting at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College before he launched an emotional appeal more gun control, but he didn’t hold back when condemning Second Amendment supporters.

“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 and it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted somewhere else in America.”

He also denounced gun rights supporters for calling for more guns and fewer gun laws after mass shootings.

“Does anybody really believe that?” he asked incredulously, suggesting that there were already too many guns in America. He also insisted that states with the most gun laws, had fewer deaths from gun violence, and even recommended  draconian gun laws in other countries that severely restricted firearm ownership.

He also alluded to the National Rifle Association, challenging gun owners to “think about whether your views are properly being represented” by organizations that supported the Second Amendment.

“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 … it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

The president listed off a series of horrific shootings in the country, admitting that the responses to such shootings in America had become “routine.”

“We’ve become numb to this,” he said.

But he saved most of his anger for Congress, asserting that they were blocking reforms that the majority of the people supported.

“I’d ask the American people to think about how they can get our government to change these laws and to save lives.” he said.