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Oregon Shooting Dredges Conversation On Guns Back To Surface

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

We continue to follow the news from Roseburg, Ore. That's where a gunman killed nine people at Umpqua Community College yesterday. An additional nine are now confirmed wounded. The shooter, 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer, was also killed.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Thirteen guns have been recovered, all purchased legally, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Seven were found at the suspect's home. There were six weapons at the college, along with a flak jacket. Speaking from Roseburg today, Oregon Governor Kate Brown had this to say.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KATE BROWN: There is no single solution that will prevent every shooting, but we must and we will do better to prevent these types of senseless violence. This is a conversation that we will have, but today is not the day.

SIEGEL: President Obama, speaking at the White House this afternoon is ready to have that conversation today.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BARACK OBAMA: Here's what you have to do. You have to make sure that it - that anybody who you are voting for is on the right side of this issue. And if they're not - even if they're great on other stuff, for a couple of election cycles you've got to vote against them and let them know precisely why you're voting against them.

SIEGEL: The president's comments echo his statement from the White House briefing room last night. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Prior to his retirement, Robert Siegel was the senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. With 40 years of experience working in radio news, Siegel hosted the country's most-listened-to, afternoon-drive-time news radio program and reported on stories and happenings all over the globe, and reported from a variety of locations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. He signed off in his final broadcast of All Things Considered on January 5, 2018.
Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.