Amy Schumer tells Jon Stewart she was 'heartbroken' after Louisiana shooting

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Amy Schumer tells Jon Stewart she was 'legit heartbroken' after two women were shot while watching her movie Trainwreck
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Two women were shot dead at a screening in a Louisiana theatre on July 23
The man had a long history of mental illness and turned the gun on himself
Amy Schumer talked about the incident with Stewart on The Daily Show
Schumer and Democrat cousin Chuck are calling for stricter gun controls

Published: 04:05 EST, 4 August 2015 | Updated: 04:44 EST, 4 August 2015

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Broken the silence: Amy Schumer, before The Daily Show, when she talked to Jon Stewart about shootings at a screening of her movie Trainwreck

Amy Schumer was 'egit heartbroken' when she heard the shocking news that two women were shot at a screening of her new movie Trainwreck, she told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

The comedienne talked of the day she heard that two women were shot dead while watching her movie in a Louisiana cinema by a man described as 'a drifter' on July 23.

The shooter had a long history of mental illness and Schumer has since joined her cousin, Democratic New York Senator and gun control advocate Chuck Schumer, to call for tighter gun laws.

On Comedy Central's The Daily Show, she spoke to Jon Stewart on her shock and pain at finding out what happened after Stewart asked about it, saying it must have 'rocked you to your core.'

She replied: 'Yeah, what a bummer. I was legit heartbroken.'

She added: 'I got a call…and assumed there was a sex tape of me out, or something. To hear that news broke my heart.

'I did a press conference this morning with Charles Schumer, who I'm related to – give it up for Chuck!

'The second this happened, you want to go down there, and so, yeah this has been in the works and I'm so happy he asked to be part of it.'

During the press conference, she spoke on the issue for the first time, 11 days after the 59-year-old man shot dead two women, then took his own life with his own handgun.

Amy Schumer said "It Broke My Heart" on Trainwreck shooting

The incident prompted relatives of victims of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting in December 2012 - in which 20 young children died - to urge Schumer to speak out.

Senator Schumer's proposals call for the use of financial incentives to ensure that states submit a full set of records to a federal database used by the FBI to screen gun buyers.

They called for financial incentives for states offering to share information for these background checks, and penalties for those who do not.

United front: The shooter had a long history of mental illness and Schumer has since joined her cousin, Democratic New York Senator and gun control advocate Chuck Schumer, to call for tighter gun laws

Miss Schumer also called for more funding for mental health services, after it emerged that the man who shot the two women had a long history of mental health issues.

Holding back tears, she said: 'No one wants to live in a country where a felon, the mentally ill or other dangerous people can get their hands on a gun with such ease.'

'The time is now for American people to rally for these changes. These are my first public comments on the issue of gun violence - but I can promise you, they will not be my last.'

Their proposal would also see the Justice Department make recommendations on how states can stop the mentally ill from acquiring weapons and to halt cutbacks on mental health programs.

'Today we are demanding that Congress take this issue very seriously,' said Senator Schumer.

Guns are blamed for around 32,000 deaths a year in the United States, a majority of them acts of suicide. Some estimate there is almost one gun for every man, woman and child in the country.

The Constitution guarantees the right of every American 'to keep and bear arms,' and legislative attempts at stricter gun control have often stumbled in the face of an influential gun lobby.

In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, President Barack Obama pushed for more extensive background checks for gun buyers - only to see his effort fail to muster support in the Senate.