The parents of a man killed in Thursday morning's mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California, made an impassioned plea for gun control.
Marc and Susan Orfanos waited all morning to hear about their son, Telemachus, before being told by a police officer that he was among the 12 killed in the massacre at the Borderline Bar and Grill, The Washington Post reported.
As thoughts and prayers from lawmakers around the country began to pour in, Susan Orfanos went on her local TV station and said she wants none of it.
“I don’t want prayers. I don’t want thoughts. I want gun control," she said. “And I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers. No more guns.”
Her husband Marc, a substitute teacher, admitted in an interview with The Washington Post that he is not optimistic about whether anyone will listen.
“If mowing down 5-year-olds at Sandy Hook didn’t make an impression, nothing will,” he said. “The bottom line is the NRA owns most of the Republican Party, and probably some of the Democratic Party as well. Until that vise is broken, this is not going to end.”
The reported shooter, Ian David Long, 28, was armed with a legally purchased handgun that may have had illegal modifications.
Republicans reject call for gun control:
Tennessee Senator-elect Marsha Blackburn responded to the shooting on Fox News by calling to protect gun rights. The shooting, she said, made it clear we need to “protect the Second Amendment and protect our citizens” before changing the topic to mental health.
Voters, doctors call for stricter gun laws:
The Washington Post reports that 60 percent of midterm voters, including nearly half of Republicans, said they support stricter gun laws. Universal background checks are backed by 90 percent of Americans.
Doctors have also increasingly called for tighter gun laws after a spate of mass shootings. “We need to ask our patients about firearms, counsel them on safe firearm behaviors, and take further action when an imminent hazard is present,” wrote Dr. Garen Wintemute of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California Davis Medical Center.
The NRA took issue with the doctor and said medical professionals should “stay in their lane.”
