Former President Barack Obama called for stricter gun control in the aftermath of mass shootings in Texas, Ohio and Chicago over the weekend. 53 people were shot in Obama’s hometown of Chicago, where gun control laws are already restrictive. Seven of the Chicago victims died.
“We are not helpless here,” Obama said in a statement on Twitter. “And until all of us stand up and insist on holding public officials accountable for changing our gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.”
In a not-so-subtle jab at President Donald Trump, Obama called on Americans to “soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments.” Obama, who turned 58 on Sunday, Aug. 4, didn’t name a particular leader.
Obama said the El Paso shooting, that left 22 people dead, followed a “dangerous trend” of violence motivated by racist ideologies. He called on law enforcement and internet platforms to shut down websites, such as 8chan message board, that influence hate groups.
Network provider Cloudflare dropped 8chan from the network’s servers on Monday. 8chan – not to be confused with 4chan – provided a platform for white supremacists. In a statement on Monday, Cloudflare said it dropped 8chan after one of the mass shooters uploaded his manifesto before going on a shooting spree on Saturday.
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince said the anonymous internet forum’s “lawlessness” had caused “multiple tragic deaths.”
Trump paid tribute to the victims in Texas, Ohio and Chicago in a statement on Monday.
“We must honor the sacred memory of those we have lost by acting as ONE PEOPLE. Open wounds cannot heal if we are divided. We must seek real, bipartisan solutions that will truly make America safer and better for all.”
He added: “The First Lady and I join all Americans in praying and grieving for the victims, their families, and the survivors. We will stand by their side FOREVER!”
In related news, famed Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson apologized for a tweet he wrote after outraged social media users accused him of minimizing the mass shootings.
In the past 48hrs, the USA horrifically lost 34 people to mass shootings.
On average, across any 48hrs, we also lose…
500 to Medical errors
300 to the Flu
250 to Suicide
200 to Car Accidents
40 to Homicide via HandgunOften our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data.
After the backlash on social media, Tyson wrote on Facebook, “My intent was to offer objectively true information that might help shape our conversations and reactions to preventable ways we die.”
“I got this one wrong,” he added.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
