Barack Obama Said The US Is 'Paralyzed' On Guns & Compared The Texas Shooting To Sandy Hook

"It's long past time for action."

Former U.S. President Barack Obama cries during a gun control speech in 2016.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama cries during a gun control speech in 2016.

Interim Deputy Editor (News)

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It's been several years since then-U.S. President Barack Obama teared up in a speech about gun control and the Sandy Hook school shooting, and he's just as frustrated now as he was then.

"Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad," he said during that 2016 speech.

Now, the former president is mourning the victims of another mass school shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas. He shared his feelings about it in a statement on Tuesday and said that the U.S. is still "paralyzed" to doing anything about gun control.

"Michelle and I grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear," Obama wrote in a statement that he shared on Twitter.

"We're also angry for them. Nearly 10 years after Sandy Hook — and 10 days after Buffalo — our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies."

Obama was pretty clearly referring to the NRA and the Republican Party, which foiled many of his gun-control efforts when he was president, especially after Sandy Hook.

"It's long past time for action, any kind of action," he continued. "It's another tragedy — a quieter but no less tragic one — for families to wait another day."

An 18-year-old gunman walked into Robb Elementary School on Tuesday and opened fire. A total of 19 children and two adults had died as of Wednesday. The gunman also died during the incident.

It was the worst school shooting since December 2012, when another lone gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Obama pushed for more gun control after that incident, and that led up to a big speech about the topic in early 2016.

"The gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage now, but they cannot hold America hostage," he said at the time. "We do not have to accept this carnage as the price of freedom."

Current U.S. President Joe Biden, who stood beside Obama that day, echoed his words in a statement after the Uvalde shooting on Tuesday.

"When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?" Biden said. "Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?"

  • Interim Deputy Editor, News

    Josh Elliott (he/him) was the Interim Deputy Editor (News) for Narcity, where he led the talented editorial team's local news content. Josh previously led Narcity’s international coverage and he spent several years as a writer for CTV and Global News in the past. He earned his English degree from York University and his MA in journalism from Western University. Superhero content is his kryptonite.

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