Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday called on lawmakers to combat what he described as an “epidemic of gun violence” in the United States after a gunman fatally shot multiple people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.
“It is long past time for those with the power to fight this epidemic of gun violence to do so. It will take time to root out the disaffection, racism, and misogyny that fuels so many of these senseless acts of violence,” Obama wrote in a statement.
“But we can make it harder for those with hate in their hearts to buy weapons of war. We can overcome opposition by cowardly politicians and the pressure of a gun lobby that opposes any limit on the ability of anyone to assemble an arsenal. We can, and we must,” the former president continued.