In the wake of Friday’s deadly shooting in Colorado, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to get specific on how they plan to address gun violence in America.
“You know, soothing words are nice, but maybe it’s time that the two people who want to be President of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country,” Bloomberg said during an appearance on John Gambling’s radio show, the New York Observer reports.
Obama and Romney have both canceled campaign events and stopped advertising in the aftermath of the tragedy that left a dozen dead at a midnight showing of the new “Batman” movie in Aurora. Shooting suspect James Holmes, 24, is currently in custody.
“And everybody always says, ‘Isn’t it tragic,’ and you know, we look for was the guy, as you said, maybe trying to recreate Batman,” the mayor, one of the nation’s most outspoken supporters of stronger gun control laws, continued.
“I mean, there are so many murders with guns every day, it’s just got to stop. And instead of the two people – President Obama and Governor Romney – talking in broad things about they want to make the world a better place, okay, tell us how.”
While reiterating Obama’s belief that more gun laws are needed, White House spokesman Jay Carney indicated to reporters on Friday that the president would not use the tragedy to push for stricter regulations.
“The president believes that we need to take common-sense measures that protect Second Amendment rights of Americans, while ensuring that those who should not have guns under existing law do not get them,” Carney said.
Investigators say that Holmes was armed with Glock pistols, a shotgun and an AR-15 rifle.