Congressional Democrats immediately pushed for gun control measures following the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday that left at least 10 people dead.
The suspect, identified as Robert Bowers, was reportedly armed with a rifle and several handguns. Bowers’ social media accounts were filled with anti-Semitic rhetoric and is said to have yelled “All Jews must die!” during the shooting.
It’s unclear at this point how Bowers acquired his weapons, whether he passed a background check and whether any proposed legislation could have prevented the shooting. Even so, prominent Democrats took to social media to advocate for more restrictive gun legislation in response to the mass murder.
Police officers guard the Tree of Life synagogue following shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 27, 2018. REUTERS/John Altdorfer
“Congress is complicit—by its inaction—in this loathsome epidemic of gun violence,” Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote on Twitter.
“I don’t want to arm synagogues and churches and schools. I want to live in a society where nazism and white supremacy crawls back in a hole and we have universal background checks,” wrote Democratic Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz.
Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, currently in the midst of a competitive re-election race, slammed unnamed “opponents of common-sense gun safety” following Saturday’s mass murder.
“Every time this happens, we’re shocked – and say it mustn’t happen again. When will opponents of common-sense gun safety work with us?” asked Nelson. “We need to get assault weapons off the streets and out of the hands of those who would do us harm.”
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“We need more than thoughts and prayers-we need action to stop these senseless deaths from gun violence,” wrote Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons.
Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez called for “reasonable gun safety measures.” (RELATED: Democratic Congressman Says Bombing Suspect ‘Right Out Of Central Casting From A Trump Rally)
President Donald Trump took the opposite approach, and said he wished the synagogue had an armed guard.
“This would be a case for, if there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop him. Maybe there would’ve been nobody killed except for [the gunman]… [but] this is a world with a lot of problems and it has been for many, many years,” Trump said.
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