Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley: Lack Of Gun Control Is 'Insane'

Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley: Lack Of Gun Control Is 'Insane'

Charleston, South Carolina Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. (D) said on Sunday that the lack of gun control in the United States was "insane."

"It is insane: the number of guns, and the ease of guns in America. It just doesn't fit with the other achievements of this country," Riley told CNN's Jake Tapper. "It's a small -- really small group, well-funded -- that keeps this issue from being appropriately addressed."

Riley's comments came just days after Dylann Roof, 21, allegedly shot and killed nine people at Emanuel AME church in Charleston on Wednesday. Roof apparently bought the gun used in the shooting with money he received for his birthday in April. The church held its first services since the slaying on Sunday.

Several officials, including President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, have called for action on gun control following the massacre.

But many lawmakers have expressed skepticism that tighter gun control is possible, citing Congress' failure to pass any kind of gun reform after 26 children and school officials were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

Before You Go

Ethel Lance

Charleston Church Shooting Victims

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