Obama focuses on families in Roseburg, Oregon visit
President Obama on Friday traveled to Roseburg, Oregon, where he met with the families of the victims from last week's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College.
The president is seriously considering taking executive actions to expand background checks for gun purchases, but he said that his trip Friday was "about the families."
"I've got very strong feelings about this because when you talk to the families, you are reminded this could be happening to your child, or your mom, or your dad," Mr. Obama said. "We're going to have to come together as a country to see how we can prevent these issues from taking place, but today it's about the families, and their grief and the love we feel for them."
He added that "if there's anything we can do at the federal level to help the community heal from this loss, obviously we're going to be there."
Mr. Obama received a mixed reception in Roseburg. Several hundred people were clustered outside of Roseburg Regional Airport for his arrival, some of them carrying signs. About half were welcoming, with messages like "Welcome to Roseburg." Other signs had negative messages like, "Gun Free Zones are for sitting ducks" and "Obama is wrong."
Earlier on Friday, there were shootings at two different U.S. colleges: One person was killed and three were wounded in a shooting at Northern Arizona University, and one person was killed and another left in stable condition after a shooting at a Texas Southern University housing facility.