Story highlights
A smattering of prominent Democrats are calling for gun control measures
President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are the most vocal
The killings outside a Planned Parenthood in Colorado drew a smattering of calls for gun control from prominent Democrats.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi led the way Saturday in pushing firearms restrictions.
“Congress has a moral responsibility to act to stop gun violence from shattering the peace in our communities, schools, health centers, and homes,” the lawmaker from California said. “In offering our sincerest condolences to the victims and survivors of this terrible tragedy, we must also strive to ensure that not one more family is forced to suffer the senselessness of preventable gun violence.”
Three people, including a police officer, were killed in Friday’s attack. The gunman was taken into custody after a stand-off, and authorities have not identified a motive, they said.
Pelosi’s comment echoed those of President Barack Obama, who said in a statement Saturday that “we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them.”
Democratic presidential candidates didn’t go as far as Pelosi in talking up gun control proposals. “Today and every day, we #StandWithPP,” tweeted Hillary Rodham Clinton, a message the former secretary of state also posted on her Facebook page.
2016ers tweet about the Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting
Primary rival Bernie Sanders took a similar tact after the Colorado shootings. The Vermont senator didn’t mention the gun issue, focusing instead of Planned Parenthood’s work on women’s health matters.
Gun control has been a flashpoint between the Democratic rivals. Sanders has at times taken heat for his record on guns. Earlier in his congressional career Sanders opposed some restrictions; he says it’s a matter of representing a rural state where opposition to gun control is strong.
Whatever the sentiments of Obama and fellow Democrats, gun control has little chance of passage in Congress. Republicans control both chambers, where leadership and rank-and-file oppose the idea.