Barack Obama Slams 'Cowardly Politicians' In Wake Of Boulder Shooting

Obama ended his post by calling for gun control and arguing that the coronavirus pandemic should not be the only factor that curbs mass shootings.

"It’s time for leaders everywhere to listen to the American people when they say enough is enough—because this is a normal we can no longer afford."

Still, NBC News reported that gun violence has been increasing amid the pandemic. Notably, firearm fatalities allegedly increased significantly in April and May of last year compared to the same months in 2019.

Despite Obama's call for gun control, he previously faced criticism for not tackling the issue hard enough. In a piece for Politico, Bill Scher said that Obama took his stance on the issue "from a position of political weakness."

In particular, Scher underlined that Obama did not campaign on the issue at all and lacked the ability to influence lawmakers on the issue due to the absence of a "broad-based gun control movement" at the time.

Conversely, Scher noted that the National Rifle Association has a long-standing movement that supports gun rights.

Obama isn't the only one to capitalize on the current moment to push for gun control. As reported by Breitbart, various Hollywood celebrities are also calling for stricter regulation on firearms following the Boulder tragedy.

The outlet highlighted that Jamie Lee Curtis, Bradley Whitford, Mia Farrow, Julianne Moore, and others have taken to social media to call for assault weapon bans and background checks.

"Our elected leaders owe us #MoreThanThoughtsAndPrayers to end our gun violence crisis — they owe us action," Moore wrote on Instagram.

As reported by Heavy, the Boulder shooter, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, is believed to have struggled with severe mental health issues.

His brother, Ali Alissa, told the outlet that the alleged shooter was severely disturbed and suffered from paranoia. The brother claimed that in high school, his "very anti-social" family member regularly believed that people were chasing him.

Heavy also highlighted some of the purported shooter's Facebook posts, which appear to reflect his struggle with mental health issues such as paranoia. In one post, he suggested that his old school was hacking his phone.