Reaction of 2016 candidates to Oregon shooting
Jeb Bush:
Praying for Umpqua Community College, the victims, and families impacted by this senseless tragedy.
Ben Carson:
"[O]bviously, there are going to be those who are going to be calling for gun control. But you know, that happens every time we have one of these incidents. Obviously, that's not the issue. The issue is the mentality of these people. And we need to be looking at the mentality of these individuals and seeing if there are any early warning clues that we can gather that will help us as a society to be able to identify these people ahead of time." -- interviewed on Hugh Hewitt radio show, Oct. 1
Hillary Clinton:
"It is just beyond my comprehension that we are seeing these mass murders happen again and again and again. And as I have said, we have got to get the political will to do everything we can to keep people safe. You know, I know there is a way to have sensible gun control measures that help prevent violence, prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands and save lives. And I am committed to doing everything I can to achieve that." -- at forum on substance abuse, Boston area, Oct. 1
Mike Huckabee:
After President Obama appeared before reporters late Thursday to say that "thoughts and prayers are not enough" after the Oregon shooting, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee issued a response:
"For this president to make a political pronouncement is at best premature and at worst ignorantly inflammatory. Obama can shamelessly try and exploit any tragey he wants, but it's clear that gun free zones are sitting duck zones." -- campaign press release, Oct. 1
John Kasich:
The thoughts and prayers of Ohioans go out to the families & victims of the tragic shooting in Oregon today. -John
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) October 1, 2015
Martin O'Malley:
Tweets won't stop this. Thoughts and prayers won't, either. Only real gun reforms will stop mass shootings from occurring nearly every day.
My heart is with those who lost so much today in Oregon. -O'M
— Martin O'Malley (@MartinOMalley) October 1, 2015
George Pataki
It's with a heavy heart that we all pray for those killed or injured in Oregon today. #UCCShooting
Marco Rubio
"We have a serious societal problem. We have - whether it's mental illness, obviously - which we need to take more seriously - whether it's family break down and the lack of values being taught at a young age, or a combination of all these things - we do have serious problems in America. But we're focusing too much on what it is people are using to commit violence, and not enough on why it is that people are committing violence...
Obviously a terrible tragedy, and our hearts go out to all of those that have been impacted by it, the families impacted by this and the families of those that have lost their lives. But we have violence in this country and we need to deal with the root causes of that violence - and they're deep and they're societal, and they have probably little to do with our laws and more to do with our families and our communities. "
(In response to follow-up question on Second Amendment) "[T]hese gun laws just aren't effective at preventing this. Gun crime is committed by criminals, criminals ignore the law - that's why they're criminals. If you pass a law that makes it harder for people to have weapons for defense, the only people that are not going to have them are the people that follow the law. Law-abiding people are going to follow the law. Criminals, by definition, ignore the law." -- -- on Mike Gallagher radio talk show
Bernie Sanders:
"We have to stop shooting at each other. ... We need sensible gun control legislation. And by the way, we need to significantly improve mental health services in the United States of America. And I pledge to do everything that I can in both of those areas. ... I don't know that anybody knows what the magic solution is. What we do know is the current situation is not tenable. It is clearly not working. And as the president indicated we can and must do a lot better." -- interviewed on MSNBC, Oct. 1
Sanders also commented via social media: "Another senseless tragedy with more innocent people killed. Our hearts go out to the family."
Donald Trump:
"Absolutely a terrible tragedy...It sounds like another mental health problem. So many of these people, they're coming out of the woodwork. We have to really get to the bottom of it. It's so hard to even talk about these things, because you see them and it's such a tragedy. It's happening more and more. I just don't remember -- years back, I just don't remember these things happening. Certainly not with this kind of frequency." -- quoted by the Washington Post, Oct. 1
CBS News Political Digital Journalists Erica Brown and Sopan Deb, and CBS News Associate Producer Alex Romano contributed to this story.