Barack Obama, who unsuccessfully tried to change laws governing gun access and ownership in the US, accused the gun lobby and the Republican Party of paralyzing the country. “They have shown no willingness to act to help prevent these tragedies,” Obama says.
Former US President Barack Obama reacted to yet another school shooting massacre – this time in Texas – with very harsh words about the gun lobby and “political party” that are paralyzing the country by preventing gun laws from being changed. Without naming him, Obama pointed the finger at the Republican Party, whose lawmakers have blocked all efforts to introduce stricter controls on American citizens’ access to firearms.
“Nearly a decade after Sandy Hook and ten days after Buffalo, our country is paralyzed not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that has shown no willingness to act to help prevent these tragedies,” Obama said. written statement. Sandy Hook, Connecticut was the site of the deadliest mass shooting ever to take place at an elementary school in the United States in December 2012, and one of the worst mass shootings in the nation’s history. The reference to Buffalo, New York is related to the massacre on the 14th, in which a white supremacist killed ten people in a supermarket in a predominantly African-American neighborhood.
Obama was president and Joe Biden was vice president when the Sandy Hook massacre took place. In response to this event, which killed 28 people (20 children and eight adults), the Obama administration proposed legislative changes that would place some restrictions on access to and possession of firearms, including more thorough background checks on those who wish to buy weapons. But these proposals were ultimately rejected, largely due to opposition from the Republican Party and massive public pressure from the gun manufacturers’ lobbies.
Donald Trump and leading figures in the Republican Party are strong supporters of the National Rifle Association, the country’s leading pro-gun organization that represents freedom to bear and use firearms as a birthright of the “American way of life” protected by the Constitution. But gun supporters are not limited to the Republican Party. Among the Democrats, there are also opponents of restricting access to weapons. Last week, several Democratic congressmen called for changing the laws in the aftermath of the Buffalo massacre, but Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat of a kind who several times agreed with the conservative theses of the Republicans on various issues, opposed him.
“Michelle and I mourn with the families in Uvalde who are suffering from pain that no one should endure. We are also mad at them,” Obama wrote. “Too much time has passed for action, any action. And this is another tragedy – quieter, but no less tragic – families have to wait another day. God bless the memory of the victims and, according to Scripture, heal broken hearts and heal them wounds.”
