America -- this time, in a community college in Oregon.

That means there are more American families -- moms,

dads, children -- whose lives have been changed forever.

That means there's another community stunned with

grief, and communities across the country forced to

relieve their own anguish, and parents across the

country who are scared because they know it might

have been their families or their children.

I've been to Roseburg, Oregon.

There are really good people there.

I want to thank all the first responders whose

bravery likely saved some lives today.

Federal law enforcement has been on the scene in a

supporting role, and we've offered to stay and help as

much as Roseburg needs, for as long as they need.

In the coming days, we'll learn about the victims --

young men and women who were studying and learning and

working hard, their eyes set on the future, their dreams

on what they could make of their lives.

And America will wrap everyone who's grieving with

our prayers and our love.

But as I said just a few months ago, and I said a few

months before that, and I said each time we see one of

these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are

not enough.

It's not enough.

It does not capture the heartache and grief and

anger that we should feel.

And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from

being inflicted someplace else in America -- next

week, or a couple of months from now.

We don't yet know why this individual did what he did.

And it's fair to say that anybody who does this has a

sickness in their minds, regardless of what they

think their motivations may be.

But we are not the only country on Earth that has

people with mental illnesses or want to do harm to

other people.

We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees

these kinds of mass shootings every few months.

Earlier this year, I answered a question in an

interview by saying, "The United States of America is

the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not

have sufficient common-sense gun-safety laws -- even in

the face of repeated mass killings."

And later that day, there was a mass shooting at a

movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana.

That day!

Somehow this has become routine.

The reporting is routine.

My response here at this podium ends up being routine.

The conversation in the aftermath of it.

We've become numb to this.

We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg,

after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora,

after Charleston.

It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to

inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands

on a gun.

And what's become routine, of course, is the response

of those who oppose any kind of common-sense

gun legislation.

Right now, I can imagine the press releases being cranked

out: We need more guns, they'll argue.

Fewer gun safety laws.

Does anybody really believe that?

There are scores of responsible gun owners in

this country --they know that's not true.

We know because of the polling that says the

majority of Americans understand we should be

changing these laws -- including the majority of

responsible, law-abiding gun owners.

There is a gun for roughly every man, woman, and child

in America.

So how can you, with a straight face, make the

argument that more guns will make us safer?

We know that states with the most gun laws tend to have

the fewest gun deaths.

So the notion that gun laws don't work, or just will

make it harder for law-abiding citizens and

criminals will still get their guns is not borne out

by the evidence.

We know that other countries, in response to

one mass shooting, have been able to craft laws that

almost eliminate mass shootings.

Friends of ours, allies of ours -- Great Britain,

Australia, countries like ours.

So we know there are ways to prevent it.

And, of course, what's also routine is that somebody,

somewhere will comment and say, Obama politicized

this issue.

Well, this is something we should politicize.

It is relevant to our common life together, to the

body politic.

I would ask news organizations -- because I

won't put these facts forward -- have news

organizations tally up the number of Americans who've

been killed through terrorist attacks over the

last decade and the number of Americans who've been

killed by gun violence, and post those side-by-side on

your news reports.

This won't be information coming from me; it will be

coming from you.

We spend over a trillion dollars, and pass countless

laws, and devote entire agencies to preventing

terrorist attacks on our soil, and rightfully so.

And yet, we have a Congress that explicitly blocks us

from even collecting data on how we could potentially

reduce gun deaths.

How can that be?

This is a political choice that we make to allow this

to happen every few months in America.

We collectively are answerable to those families

who lose their loved ones because of our inaction.

When Americans are killed in mine disasters, we work to

make mines safer.

When Americans are killed in floods and hurricanes, we

make communities safer.

When roads are unsafe, we fix them to reduce

auto fatalities.

We have seatbelt laws because we know it saves lives.

So the notion that gun violence is somehow

different, that our freedom and our Constitution

prohibits any modest regulation of how we use a

deadly weapon, when there are law-abiding gun owners

all across the country who could hunt and protect their

families and do everything they do under such

regulations doesn't make sense.

So, tonight, as those of us who are lucky enough to hug

our kids a little closer are thinking about the families

who aren't so fortunate, I'd ask the American people to

think about how they can get our government to change

these laws, and to save lives, and to let young

people grow up.

And that will require a change of politics on

this issue.

And it will require that the American people,

individually, whether you are a Democrat or a

Republican or an independent, when you decide

to vote for somebody, are making a determination as to

whether this cause of continuing death for

innocent people should be a relevant factor in

your decision.

If you think this is a problem, then you should

expect your elected officials to reflect

your views.

And I would particularly ask America's gun owners -- who

are using those guns properly, safely, to hunt,

for sport, for protecting their families -- to think

about whether your views are properly being represented

by the organization that suggests it's speaking for you.

And each time this happens I'm going to bring this up.

Each time this happens I am going to say that we can

actually do something about it, but we're going to have

to change our laws.

And this is not something I can do by myself.

I've got to have a Congress and I've got to have state

legislatures and governors who are willing to work with

me on this.

I hope and pray that I don't have to come out again

during my tenure as President to offer my

condolences to families in these circumstances.

But based on my experience as President, I can't

guarantee that.

And that's terrible to say.

And it can change.

May God bless the memories of those who were killed today.

May He bring comfort to their families, and courage

to the injured as they fight their way back.

And may He give us the strength to come together

and find the courage to change.

Thank you.