SPEAKING NOW.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: LIVE SEVEN
CHANGED FOREVER.
THERE IS ANOTHER COMMUNITY
HEAVY
WITH GRIEF AND PEOPLE
ACROSS THE COUNTRY FORCED TO
LIVE THROUGH ANGUISH, PARENTS
ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHO ARE
SCARED, BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT
MIGHT HAVE BEEN THEIR FAMILIES,
THEIR CHILDREN.
I HAVE BEEN TO ROSEBURG, OREGON.
THEY ARE REALLY GOOD PEOPLE
THERE.
I WANT TO THANK ALL THE FIRST
RESPONDERS.
LAW ENFORCEMENT HAS BEEN ON THE
SCENE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE, AND
THEY WILL STAY AND HELP AS MUCH
AS THEY NEED.
IN THE COMING DAYS WE WILL LEARN
ABOUT THE VICTIMS, YOUNG MEN AND
WOMEN WHO WERE STUDYING AND
LEARNING AND WORKING HARD, THEIR
EYES SET ON THE FUTURE, THEIR
DREAMS ON WHAT THEY COULD MAKE
THEIR LIVES.
AMERICA WILL
SEND OUR PRAYERS
AND OUR LOVE.
BUT, AS I
SAID, JUST A FEW
MONTHS AGO, AND I SAID A FEW
MONTHS BEFORE THAT, AND I SAY IT
EACH TIME WE SEE ONE OF THESE
MASS SHOOTINGS, OUR THOUGHTS AND
PRAYERS ARE NOT ENOUGH.
IT IS 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 SOMEPLACE
ELSE IN AMERICA.
NEXT WEEK,
OR A COUPLE MONTHS
FROM NOW, WE DON'T YET
KNOW WHY
THIS INDIVIDUAL DID WHAT HE
DID.
AND IT IS FAIR TO
SAY THAT
ANYBODY WHO DOES THIS HAS A
SICKNESS IN THEIR MINDS.
REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY THINK
THEIR MOTIVATIONS MAY BE.
BUT
WE ARE NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY
ON EARTH THAT HAS PEOPLE WITH
MENTAL ILLNESSES WHO WANT TO DO
HARM TO OTHER PEOPLE.
WE ARE THE ONLY ADVANCED COUNTRY
ON EARTH THAT SEES THESE KINDS
OF MASS SHOOTINGS EVERY FEW
MONTHS.
EARLIER THIS YEAR
, I ANSWERED A
QUESTION IN AN INTERVIEW BY
SAYING THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA IS THE ONE ADVANCED
NATION ON EARTH IN WHICH WE DO
NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT GUN SAFETY
LAWS, EVEN IN THE STATE OF
REPEATED MASS KILLINGS.
LATER THAT DAY, THERE WAS A MASS
SHOOTING IN LAFAYETTE,
LOUISIANA.
SOMEHOW, THIS HAS BECOME
ROUTINE.
THE REPORTING IS ROUTINE.
MY RESPONSE HERE AT THIS PODIUM
IS A ROUTINE.
THE CONVERSATION IN THE
AFTERMATH HAS
BECOME ROUTIN.
WE TALKED ABOUT THIS AFTER
COLUMBINE AND BLACKSBURG AND
TUCSON, AFTER NEWTOWN, AFTER
AURORA, AFTER CHARLESTON.
IT CANNOT
BE THIS EASY FOR
SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO INFLICT
HARM ON OTHER PEOPLE TO GET HIS
OR HER HANDS ON A GUN.
AND WHAT HAS BECOME ROUTINE IS
THE RESPONSE OF THOSE WHO
POSE ANY KIND OF GUN
LEGISLATION.
RIGHT NOW I CAN IMAGINE
PRESS
RELEASES BEING CRANKED OUT.
"WE NEED MORE GUNS!"
"FEWER GUN SAFETY LAWS."
DOES ANYBODY REALLY BELIEVE
THAT?
THERE ARE SCORES OF RESPONSIBLE
GUN OWNERS IN THIS COUNTRY --
THEY KNOW THAT IS NOT TRUE.
WE KNOW BECAUSE OF PULLING THAT
SAYS THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS
UNDERSTAND WE SHOULD BE CHANGING
THESE LAWS, INCLUDING THE
MAJORITY OF RESPONSIBLE,
LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS.
THERE IS A
GUN FOR EVERY MAN,
WOMAN, AND CHILD IN AMERICA.
HOW CAN WE,
WITH A STRAIGHT
FACE, MAKE THE ARGUMENT THAT
MORE GUNS WILL MAKE US SAFER?
WE
KNOW THAT STATES WITH THE
MOST GUN LAWS TEND TO HAVE THE
FEWEST GUN DEATHS.
THE NOTION THAT GUN LAWS DON'T
WORK, OR JUST WILL MAKE IT
HARDER FOR LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS
AND CRIMINALS TO GET GUNS --
THAT IS NOT BY THE EVIDENCE.
WE KNOW THAT OTHER
COUNTRIES, IN
RESPONSE TO ONE MASS SHOOTING,
HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CRAFT LAWS
THAT ALMOST ELIMINATE MASS
SHOOTINGS.
FRIENDS OF OURS, ALLIES OF
HOURS.
AUSTRALIA, COUNTRIES LIKE OURS.
WE KNOW THERE ARE WAYS TO
PREVENT IT.
AND OF COURSE, WHAT IS ALSO
ROUTINE IS THAT SOMEBODY,
SOMEWHERE WILL COMMENT AND SAY,
OBAMA POLITICIZED THIS ISSUE.
THIS IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD
POLITICIZE.
IT IS RELEVANT TO
OUR COMMON
LIFE TOGETHER, TO THE BODY
POLITIC.
I WOULD ASK NEWS ORGANIZATIONS
TO PUT THE FACTS FORWARD.
NEWS ORGANIZATIONS, TALLY UP
THE
NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO HAVE
BEEN KILLED THROUGH TERRORIST
ATTACKS OVER THE LAST DECADE,
AND THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO
HAVE BEEN KILLED BY GUN
VIOLENCE.
POST THOSE SIDE-BY-SIDE ON YOUR
NEWS REPORTS.
THIS WON'T BE INFORMATION COMING
FROM ME, BUT FROM YOU.
WE HAVE SPENT OVER $1 TRILLION
AND PASSED COUNTLESS LIVES AND
DEVOTED ENTIRE AGENCIES TO
PREVENT TERRORIST ATTACKS ON OUR
SOIL, AND RIGHTFULLY SO.
AND YET,
WE HAVE A CONGRESS THAT
EXPLICITLY BLOCKS US FROM EVEN
COLLECTING DATA ON HOW WE COULD
POTENTIALLY REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE.
HOW CAN THAT BE?
THIS IS A POLITICAL CHOICE THAT
WE MAKE.
TO ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN EVERY
FEW MONTHS IN AMERICA.
WE COLLECTIVELY ARE ANSWERABLE
TO THOSE FAMILIES WHO LOSE THEIR