President Obama on Wednesday said it “breaks my heart” to hear of another shooting tragedy, and seemed to argue that America is overly focused on terrorism at a time when more deaths are being caused by gun violence.
“It breaks my heart every time you read about or hear about these kinds of incidents,” Obama told ABC News’ Philadelphia affiliate in an interview that will air on Thursday.
While ABC was only offering a few excerpts of that interview, one of them showed Obama making a comment that seemed to downplay the risk of terrorism when compared to the threat these shootings pose to Americans.
“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,” he said.
Obama was reacting to the Wednesday morning shooting of two Virginia TV journalists while they were conducting a live interview. A reporter and cameraman were shot, apparently by a disgruntled worker who had been fired from the station.
The alleged gunman then turned his weapon on himself after being chased on the highway, and he was pronounced dead early Wednesday afternoon.
Shooting events over the last few years have led to calls from Democrats for tighter gun rules, but they have been foiled by Republicans, who oppose any changes to federal law. After the summer shooting in South Carolina that claimed the lives of nine black churchgoers, Obama again said something needs to be done, but admitted the current Congress has no appetite for a new law.
While ABC was only |
