'Stuff happens,' Jeb Bush says of Oregon college massacre
A day after a massacre on a US college campus, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush dismissed the growing calls for stricter gun control laws in the United States.
“Look, stuff happens and the impulse is always to do something and it's not necessarily the right thing to do,” Bush said during an appearance in Greenville, South Carolina.
A gunman opened fire in a classroom at Umpqua Community College in the state of Oregon on Thursday morning, killing 9 people and injuring 9 more. The shooter was enrolled in the same class where the fatal shootings happened.
"We're in a difficult time in our country and I don't think more government is necessarily the answer to this. I think we need to reconnect ourselves with everybody else. It's very bad to see," Bush said while discussing the issue of gun violence.
“All sorts of rules that are appropriate for Florida may not be appropriate for other places but the basic right is embedded and it's a personal right to bear arms but that shouldn't be infringed,” the former Florida governor contended.
The comments sparked outrage on social media and even elicited criticism from President Barack Obama.
“I think the American people should hear that and make their own judgments based on the fact that every couple of months we have a mass shooting,” Obama said at a press conference on Friday. “They can decide whether or not they consider that ‘stuff happening.’”
Officials said they recovered thirteen weapons linked to the gunman, identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, raising new concerns about easy access to guns in the US.
Following the tragic incident, a seemingly frustrated Obama made another passionate plea for gun control legislation.
He blasted Congress for refusing to change the country’s gun laws in response to a series of mass shootings across the country.
"Somehow this has become routine," Obama said at the White House on Thursday.
Every year, more than 30,000 people are shot and killed in the United States. The US averages 87 gun deaths each day as a function of gun violence, with an average of 183 injured, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Centers for Disease Control.
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