Emanuel: Journalists' Murders "Stark Reminder" Of Need For Better Gun Control, Mental Health Treatment
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a longtime supporter of stricter gun control, said the on-air murders of a Virginia TV reporter and photographer served as "stark reminder" the government needs to be "shocked into action."
The mayor said the city's thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of WDBJ 7 reporter Alison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward, and the Roanoke community.
"I think it's a stark reminder to all of us, both those who advocate for gun control, those in the political system that have both – as it relates to mental health, as it relates to gun control – that we need to finally come to terms, and have the system be shocked into action, rather than be stymied into inaction because of political pressure," he said.
Emanuel spoke at the new Chicago headquarters of in-flight connectivity company Gogo, whose CEO Michael Small coincidentally is the local head of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
"If people really want to step up, and get common-sense measures to reduce violence, like you do driving fatalities, I mean you could make a big difference," Small said. "But as long as it's about the Second Amendment and other superfluous issues, people are going to keep dying in America."
Small said the issue of gun control seems to be uniquely American.