Protesters, supporters greet Obama on trip to visit Oregon shooting victims' families
U.S. president calls on Americans to 'come together' to prevent mass shootings
The public must "come together" to figure out how to keep deadly mass shootings from happening, President Barack Obama said Friday.
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He emerged from a private meeting with family of the victims of last week's shooting in Oregon to declare: "Today is about the families."
Addressing reporters briefly after the approximately hour-long meeting, Obama said occasions like these always remind him that any child or parent or family member could suffer such a loss.
Immediately after a gunman killed eight students and a teacher at a community college last week, a visibly angry Obama said thoughts and prayers are no longer enough in the aftermath and that the nation's gun laws needed to be changed. He pledged to "politicize" the issue.
Obama 'not welcome in our county'
But that message didn't sit well in Roseburg, where gun ownership is popular. Hundreds of supporters and protesters gathered near the local airport for Obama's arrival, with signs welcoming him mixed with others advocating for gun rights.
Those protesting the president's arrival were angry about Obama's calls for gun restrictions in the wake of the shooting rampage that killed eight students and a teacher at Umpqua Community College. Some carried holstered handguns. Others had signs saying Obama was not welcome.
"By coming here, Obama is going to politicize a tragedy by saying that you have to have gun control," George Starr said as he held a small American flag.
"It's not that we are bloodthirsty, it's that we want to protect ourselves and our families," he said.
The attitude is shared by many people in the conservative region where it is common for residents to own guns for hunting, target shooting and self-protection.
"I'm here to tell Obama he is not welcome in our county. He is exploiting the local tragedy with his gun control agenda," said Bruce Rester, a retired truck driver who was wearing a handgun in a holster over his chest.
"Everybody should carry a gun. An armed society is a polite society," he said.
A number of Obama supporters lined the route taken by the limousine to catch a glimpse of the president.
'Today is about families'
Obama said the families wanted to communicate how much they appreciated the nation's "help, thoughts and prayers."
"I've obviously got very strong feeling about this," he said, saying that at some point the nation would have to unite to figure out how to prevent incidents like these from happening so regularly. On Friday, fatal school-related shootings were reported at colleges in Arizona and Texas.
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"We're going to have to come together as a country, but today is about the families," Obama said before walking to his limo.
The stop in Roseburg was a last-minute addition to a previously scheduled weekend trip by Obama to Seattle and California
