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.
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A few residents say tighter gun laws are not the solution. The small crowd around them tried to help, but agreement was hard to come by.
TELFORD: Yes. Everybody can have a gun to defend themselves. “An armed society is a polite society”, he said.
The visit is taking place in staunchly conservative Douglas County, where many gun owners use their weapons for hunting, target shooting and self-protection.
The gunman who killed nine people at Umpqua Community College had an uncomfortable exchange with the teacher earlier in the week, one survivor recalls.
A student at the college, Harper-Mercer had asked students to stand up and state their religion.
Houston police said the incident “does not involve an active shooter”, but the university nonetheless placed the campus on lockdown and cancelled classes for the rest of the day. This contrasted with Blackstone and ABC’s David Muir, who pointed out on World News Tonight that “the President is exploring the use of executive authority to close gun loopholes”.
‘On principle, I find I am in disagreement with his policies on gun control and therefore, we (the family) will not be attending the visit, ‘ Stacy Boylan told Fox News. The campus was put on lockdown.
“He looked directly at me and said hey kid with the glasses you are the lucky one, I will not shoot you if you give this to the cops”, Downing said in the statement.
Gary Schoeller, 26, of Roseburg, wore a holstered handgun on his hip.
“He should stay away”, Gary Shambling, 66, of Winston, whose 1935 Harvester global pickup was parked Friday morning along the side of Aviation Drive, told his local newspaper, the Register-Guard.
One person was killed and three others wounded, allegedly by 18-year-old freshman at Northern Arizona University’s Flagstaff campus.
Roseburg Mayor Larry Rich (L) listens while US President Barack Obama makes a statement to the press after meeting with the families of the Umpqua College shooting victims on October 9, 2015.
But given the freshness of the week-old tragedy, the USA president said: “Today, it’s about the families”.
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After Obama touched down in Oregon, he was greeted with signs that addressed his views on gun control, as well as personal remarks against him, according to Talking Points Memo. “It’s a very big thing for him to land in Roseburg, I think”, said Linda Scott. “He already says he’s going to politicize this”. “He’s coming here purely to push his garbage, and we don’t want it”.
