Former President Barack Obama said Thursday that lawmakers were “not powerless” to prevent shootings like the one that killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Fla., and said it was time for Congress to pass “long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws.”
“We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change,” Obama wrote on Twitter.
We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 15, 2018
Former Vice President Joe Biden also tweeted that Congress had “a moral obligation to take action and spare more families from this violence.”
I am at a loss for what more to say. I grieve with the families in Parkland today. I grieve with the families across the country who have suffered loss due to gun violence. Congress has a moral obligation to take action and spare more families from this violence.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 15, 2018
Obama named Biden head of the previous administration’s Gun Violence Task Force in December 2012 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults.
Bills introduced in the House that regulated assault weapons and expanded background checks were voted down in the Senate in April 2013.
On Wednesday, at least 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when alleged shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, opened fire on his former classmates with an AR-15 style rifle.
Cruz has since been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
The messages from Obama and Biden follow President Trump’s address to the nation Thursday, in which he called for “one American family” to come together to protect children in schools and help people with mental illnesses.
