Getty Hillary Clinton.
Hours after the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted a statement attacking the NRA.
Clinton asked followers to “put politics aside” and “stand up to the NRA”.
Her message came shortly after the devastating Las Vegas massacre that left more than 50 dead and 200 injured.
Our grief isn’t enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again.
Clinton wrote, “The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get.”
A bill introduced earlier this year by Republican Jeff Duncan, frames the issue as a public health matter, saying that gun owners risk suffering hearing damage without access to silencers.
Her response, which also called for a change in access to firearms, contrasted President Donald Trump’s response:
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
Gun rights was a major issue between the two candidates during last year’s election. Trump called himself a defender of gun rights and the Second Amendment, while Clinton called for “common sense” regulations on who was able to buy weapons and the need for background checks.
The NRA endorsed Trump in the election.
Former Vice President Joe Biden also called on Congress to “act now to save lives.”
How long do we let gun violence tear families apart? Enough. Congress & the WH should act now to save lives. There’s no excuse for inaction.
Connecticut’s senators, who have pushed for tighter gun control ever since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, were also quick to issue statements Monday.
“Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in a statement. “This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren’t public policy responses to this epidemic. There are, and the thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something.”
The primary suspect, Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nev., was found dead in his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino, where he had at least 10 rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.