Politics

Feinstein calls for new gun control laws again after Navy Yard shooting

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
Font Size:

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is renewing her call for new gun-control laws because of Monday’s deadly Navy Yard shooting.

“When will enough be enough?” Feinstein said in a statement Monday evening.

“Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country,” she said. “We must do more to stop this endless loss of life.”

The FBI confirmed Monday afternoon that 34-year-old Aaron Alexis is the suspect in Monday’s massacre at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Alexis died at the scene. Authorities are still looking for other potential gunmen in the rampage that has killed at least a dozen people.

“I mourn those killed today at the Navy Yard in Washington and send my thoughts and prayers to those families grieving the loss of loved ones,” Feinstein said.

“There are reports the killer was armed with an AR-15, a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol when he stormed an American military installation in the nation’s capital and took at least 12 innocent lives,” she said.

Feinstein has long been an anti-gun rights activist. After last year’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, she unsuccessfully pushed to ban more than 150 types of firearms, including rifles, pistols and shotguns.

On Monday, she reiterated a call for new legislation in light of the Navy Yard shootings.

“This is one more event to add to the litany of massacres that occur when a deranged person or grievance killer is able to obtain multiple weapons — including a military-style assault rifle — and kill many people in a short amount of time,” Feinstein said.

Follow Alex on Twitter