President Pushes Tighter Gun Control in Podcast

United States President Barack Obama weighed in on the debate over race and guns on Monday following the arrest of a white man for the racially motivated shooting deaths of nine black church members in Charleston, South Carolina.

Mr. Obama’s remarks came during a podcast interview with comedian Marc Maron. He used the opportunity to call for action on tighter gun laws.

“I think part of the point I wanted to make was that it’s not enough just to feel bad,” the president said. “There are actions that could be taken to make events like this less likely, and one of those actions we could take would be to enhance some basic, commonsense gun-safety laws.”

Later in the interview the president blamed Congress for failing to act after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. He continued by saying, “I will tell you, right after Sandy Hook, Newtown, when twenty 6-year-olds are gunned down, and Congress literally does nothing—yes, that’s the closest I came to feeling disgusted, I was pretty disgusted.”