Hillary Clinton goes after the NRA in the wake of Oregon college shooting

'We need to make every politician who sides with them to look into the eyes of parents whose children have been murdered and explain why they listen to the gun lobbyists instead'

Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally in Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty)

Less than 24-hours after President Barack Obama called to politicise the mass shooting that took the lives of ten people inside Oregon’s Umpqua Community College, his speech was immediately reciprocated by his former secretary of state.

Hillary Clinton addressed the latest tragedy in the states during a “grassroots” rally in Florida. Ms Clinton was the the only 2016 presidential candidate to explicitly shame the National Rifle Association, who are highly criticised for spending millions to lobby members of congress to prevent “meaningful” action on gun control. The NRA spent nearly $37 million on lobbying efforts, according to a Yahoo News investigation.

“We don’t just need to pray for these people. We need to act. It’s infuriating. Every time there’s another massacre, the Republicans and the NRA say, ‘It’s not the time to talk about guns.’ Yes, it is,” she said on Friday, according to the New York Times.

“It is time to act but Republicans continue to refuse to do anything to protect our communities. They put the NRA ahead of American families. We need to make every politician who sides with them to look into the eyes of parents whose children have been murdered and explain why they listen to the gun lobbyists instead.”

She went on to say that the fight would be “a political mountain climb” but nothing gets done in America “if you don’t start by calling it out.”

In comparison, her increasingly popular Democratic rival Bernie Sanders has voted for universal background checks in the past, but as the Washington Post reports, was elected to congress as an ally to pro-gun supporters, namely the NRA. In July, Mr Sanders compared guns to hammers during a CNN interview. He argues that "assault weapon" manufacturers should not be punished for the acts of individuals but he would do all he can to find a middle ground between gun control advocates and those who oppose it.

Ms Clinton promised her crowd of supporters, "I will, as president, never relent on this, because we need a national movement.”