San Bernardino shooting: New York Daily News front page says it's time to stop praying - and start gun control

The headline reads: 'God isn't fixing this'

Victoria Richards
Thursday 03 December 2015 08:48 GMT
Comments

A newspaper in New York has given a stark warning to politicians who talk of "praying" for those involved in the San Bernardino massacre, in which 14 people died.

The front page of the New York Daily News bears the headline, "God isn't fixing this" - and says that rather than looking to religion to help ease the pain of losing loved ones, government officials need to move forward with clear action on gun control.

Alongside the stark headline are images of Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, and Paul Ryan, with snapshpts of their tweets of condolence.

Mr Cruz tweeted: "Our prayers are with the victims, their families, and the first responders in San Bernadino"; Mr Paul wrote: "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families and brave first responders"; Ms Graham said: "Thoughts & prayers are with #SanBernadino"; and Mr Ryan tweeted: "Please keep the victims of San Bernardino, California in your prayers".

Beneath the images, the newspaper states: "As latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes."

People expressed their support for the sentiment on Twitter, describing it as a "perfect statement" and, simply, "hells yes".

John DiMaggio wrote: "Tomorrow's @NYDailyNews saying exactly what needs to be said..."

Alle Connell said it should be "on the front page of every newspaper and digital publication in America".

But others criticised the controversial line, saying that they found it "offensive".

One Twitter user by the name of Mollie tweeted directly at the publication, saying: "I don't think you realise how offensive that cover is" - and received 600 'likes'.

The US local has a history of coming out against firearms, with previous front pages bearing headlines such as "same gun, different slay", "shame on U.S" and "blood on your hands".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in