CRISIS/GUNS/POLITICS: “The White House on Monday [10-2-17] rebuffed attempts to restart the gun control debate after Sunday’s deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying now is not the time for such a discussion.
Pressed on whether President Donald Trump and his administration felt the mass shooting that claimed the lives of at least 59 and injured more than 500 — the deadliest in modern U.S. history — should be treated as an opportunity for a policy discussion on preventing gun violence, Sanders urged patience…
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas was more pointed, saying that ‘politicizing’ the Sunday shooting was ‘beyond disgusting.’
‘Unfortunately I think some of the statements that have been made are fairly predicable,’ Cornyn said Monday.
The response from the White House and congressional Republicans was a typical refrain that has emerged after past mass shootings that have rattled the nation in recent years.
It’s not clear that the body count in the Las Vegas shooting will change the tenor of the gun debate, especially with Republicans controlling Congress and the White House, but that didn’t stop Democrats from quickly calling for action — some in blunt terms.”
-Cristiano Lima, “White House says now not the time for gun debate,” Politico, Oct. 2, 2017 05:18pm