Emanuel: Political Leaders Must "Wake Up" After Oregon Mass Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the wake another mass shooting – this time at a community college in Oregon – Mayor Rahm Emanuel said it's clear the nation needs stricter gun laws.
The mayor said, at some point, a mass shooting has to "wake up the political system and the leaders to not be cowed by interests that overwhelm what the values are of our city, a community, or our nation."
"In all due respect, and my thoughts and prayers are with the families affected in Oregon, and also throughout the whole state, I didn't need – nor do I think the people of the city of Chicago – the tragedy of Oregon to say that we need tougher gun laws," he said.
Emanuel praised President Barack Obama's statement on the mass shooting, in which the president said shooting massacres like those in Roseberg, Newtown, Tucson, Columbine, Charleston, and other places have become far too common.
Obama said the nation's response to mass shootings has become routine – from media reporting, to his own comments, to the lack of action in Congress to limit access to guns.
The president said it's clear that anyone responsible for such acts "has a sickness in their minds." He said the U.S. is not the only country that has people suffering from mental illness, but "We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these kind of mass shootings every few months."
"I applaud the president for being clear; this has got to wake people up to the responsibility, not only to keep guns out of those with mental health issues, guns away from those who have a criminal background, and that there be a severe penalty – not just legally, but culturally, and in a value-wise – for those who repeatedly use guns," Emanuel said.