Obama leaves Roseburg following shooting

His comments came as two more college shootings occurred – one at Northern Arizona University and another at Texas Southern University that together left two dead and four wounded.

Gun-rights advocates on Friday protested President Obama’s visit to Roseburg, Ore., where he will meet families of the victims of last week’s shooting at Umpqua Community College.

Addressing reporters briefly after the approximately hour-long meeting at Roseburg High School, Obama said occasions like these always remind him that any child, parent or family member could suffer such a loss. But given the freshness of the week-old tragedy, he said, “Today, it’s about the families”.

Obama got on the presidential helicopter for a short flight to Roseburg, about 70 miles south of Eugene.

The father of one of the victims of the Oregon shooting refused an invitation to meet Obama, blaming the president for “politicizing the tragedy”, according to media reports. He had used six guns, five pistols and a rifle, to carry out the attack, authorities said.

“The fact that the college didn’t permit guards to carry guns, there was no one there to stop this man”, said Craig Schlesinger, pastor at the Garden Valley Church. “What’s true on gun violence is true on every issue that matters to you”.

“I can’t think of a better way to send a message than what these fine patriots did by protesting against a lawless president who seeks to not only take away their right to protect themselves, but who also ignores the Constitution and tries to usurp power away from Congress and ultimately, the people”. But he will also find another deeply held emotion-seething anger over his calls for new gun restrictions. Parents were outraged to discover that a gun store, Nova Firearms, opened just metres from an elementary school a few days before the Oregon shooting.

The signs refer to Umpqua Community College, where Christopher Harper-Mercer killed eight students and a teacher before turning the gun on himself.

As his motorcade drove into town, supporters and protesters lined the streets with signs such as “Not giving up our rights”, “Please leave us in Peace” and “Gun-free zones are for sitting ducks”.

The protesters were indignant at how Obama quickly and callously politicised the murders when just minutes after the rampage he called a press conference at the White House not to condemn the killings but to push for tighter gun control.

“There are gonna be moments as we go forward where we’re gonna have to come together and figure out how do we stop things like this from happening”, Obama said in brief remarks after meeting with families.

She later added, “People died here, and you can’t make laws to bring these people back”. On top of that, it is illegal for the government to try to control guns. “I thought they should be focusing on the community and the healing”.