Hillary Clinton said mass shootings are "stalking our country" and pledged to take on the issue of gun control Wednesday after a reporter and cameraman were fatally shot on live television in Virginia.
“We have got to do something about gun violence in America. And I will take it on,” Clinton told reporters after a campaign stop in Iowa.
Clinton and many of her other 2016 presidential opponents took to Twitter to express sympathy for the friends and family of journalist Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward. But the Democratic presidential frontrunner also added that the country “cannot wait any longer” to stop gun violence.
"I want to reiterate how important it is to not let yet another terrible instance go by without trying to do something more to prevent this incredible killing that is stalking our country," Clinton said.
The suspect is believed to be Vester Lee Flanagan, a disgruntled former employee of the Roanoke, Virginia, television station where the two victims worked. Flanagan shot himself while being pursued by police and later died.
“There is so much evidence that if guns were not so readily available, if we had universal background checks...maybe we could prevent this kind of carnage," Clinton.
On the campaign trail in New Hampshire, Democrat Martin O'Malley similarly said, "There has been way too much violence in our country and far, far too much of it is gun related violence...Too much violence, too many deaths from guns in our country, and we need to do better as a nation."
Passing any reforms the nation's gun laws has proven to be a tall order in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama unsuccessfully pushed for reforms following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting when 20 children and six adults were fatally shot.
