President Obama said the Wednesday shooting in San Bernadino, Calif., that left at least a dozen people dead is just the latest example of an epidemic that demands action by federal policymakers.
“The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world, and there’s some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don’t happen as frequently,” the president said in an interview with CBS News.
Obama told CBS News co-host Norah O’Donnell the situation was still active as of 4:00 p.m. EST, which made it hard to specify details about the incident.
Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed Obama’s remarks, taking to Twitter to say Americans should “refuse to accept this as normal,” and calling the public to take action to stop future gun violence.
I refuse to accept this as normal. We must take action to stop gun violence now. -H https://t.co/SkKglwQycb
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 2, 2015
Fellow candidate Bernie Sanders added mass shootings are becoming a regular occurrence in America.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the public has a “moral responsibility” to prevent the “daily agony of gun violence.”
Obama called for Congress to enact policy that further strengthen background checks stronger and revokes the selling of guns to individuals on no-fly lists.
