WH: Santa Barbara shooting ‘horrific’

A shooting and stabbing spree that left six University of California, Santa Barbara students dead was a “horrific, heartbreaking incident,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Friday.

“The thoughts and prayers of the president and the first lady and everyone here are with the families of those who were killed and those who were wounded,” Carney said.

{mosads}Thirteen others were wounded in the shooting spree last Friday. The shooter, Elliot Rodger, also died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

Carney reiterated as a “broader manner” that there were things Congress “can and should do” to reduce gun violence.

He said President Obama was “explicitly disappointed in the failure of Congress to take action on a measure that was entirely consistent with Second Amendment rights that he supports, that would have simply expanded background checks and made the system more comprehensive and effective.”

The father of one of the victims of the spree angrily denounced politicians, including the president, following the shooting.

“I don’t care about your sympathy. I don’t give a s— that you feel sorry for me,” Richard Martinez, the father of Christopher Michaels-Martinez, told The Washington Post.  “Get to work and do something.

“I’ll tell the president the same thing if he calls me,” Martinez added. “Getting a call from a politician doesn’t impress me.”

He went on to urge Obama and Congress to take “immediate action” to implement new gun control laws.

“Today, I’m going to ask every person I can find to send a postcard to every politician they can think of with three words on it: ‘Not one more,’ ” he said Tuesday. “People are looking for something to do. I’m asking people to stand up for something. Enough is enough.”

Carney defended Obama’s actions and said he had done all he could without congressional action.

Obama had “acted on every item the administration has contained within the report provided by the vice president to the president on measures that can be taken administratively to help address this challenge,” said Carney.