Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday implored Congress to act and pass "common sense gun reforms" after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.
“Yet again our country is faced with another sickening act of gun violence perpetrated against innocent people," he said in a statement. “Gun violence has become a cancer on this nation. We are better than this. Too often we are turning on our televisions to scenes of horror like those we are witnessing today. This madness must stop."
Reid expressed his condolences for the victims and emphasized that "the American people are crying out for us to act" to end gun violence.
“There is no excuse for inaction. We cannot allow ourselves to grow numb to gun violence or to feel powerless in the face of it. We can, and must, make common sense gun reforms that can keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous criminals and the mentally ill. The American people are crying out for us to act. If we do not act, this distressing reality will not change.”
On Thursday, he is expected to force a vote on a gun control amendment during the Senate's debate on a bill repealing Obamacare.
The amendment, in response to last week's shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, would prevent people convicted of violating laws protecting the entrances of abortion clinics from obtaining guns.
See more politicians' reactions to the shooting below.
This article has been updated to include that Reid will introduce a gun amendment on Thursday.
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