Oregon Shooting Survivor Rejects Gun Control
A survivor of the Oregon college shooting has told Sky News she believes new gun control measures will not end America's epidemic of mass killings, shortly after the victims were named.
Shelby Wambolt managed to escape from Roseburg's Umpqua Community College when the shooting began in a neighbouring classroom. She says she later discovered that one of those who died was a close friend.
Among the victims were three 18-year-olds - Quinn Glen Cooper, Lucas Eibel and Rebecka Ann Carnes - as well as Lucero Alcaraz, 19, and 20-year-old Trevor Taylor Anspach.
The others were Jason Dale Johnson, 34, Sarena Dawn Moore, 44, Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59, and 67-year-old teacher Lawrence Levine. They died when 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer opened fire at the campus before he was killed by police in a shoot-out.
But Ms Wambolt said calls by President Obama for tighter regulations on gun ownership were misguided. She said: "I know Obama got on the air and talked about gun control and I really don't believe gun control is the problem."
"What I'm hearing is that he (the gunman) did have mental illness and some issues but our town doesn't have a lot of avenues for people who have mental illness.
"It is really sad because people who need help and treatment don't get it. "Could that have helped him? Could that have changed things? Could that have saved lives? We will never know."
America has experienced an average of more than one mass shooting a day so far this year. A mass shooting is defined as having four or more victims.
Mr Obama says it is wrong to blame mental health issues alone. He says other countries have "angry young men" but they don't generally have access to an arsenal of weapons when they "snap".
He says he plans to keep talking about the gun control issue and "will politicise it". Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush had earlier been criticised for saying "stuff happens" when commenting on the college shooting.
When being pressed about what should be done about the shootings, he said: "Look, stuff happens and the impulse is always to do something and it's not necessarily the right thing to do."
It emerged last night that Harper-Mercer was a student at the college and was enrolled in the class where the attack took place. Police recovered six weapons from the scene of the attack and another seven at his apartment, all of which were legally owned.
Harper-Mercer was said to have been born in England before moving to the United States as a young boy. His social media profiles featured content supporting the IRA.
