Huckabee lashes out at Obama over 'ignorantly inflammatory' plea for stricter gun laws that 2016 Democrats are now echoing in response to Oregon shooting

• 'For this president to make a political pronouncement is at best premature and at worst ignorantly inflammatory,' GOP contender Mike Huckabee said 
• The Thursday massacre at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, left 10 dead, including the shooter, and another seven injured 
• Several hours after the shooting, Obama pleaded with Congress and gun owners to support federal reforms to prevent future killings
• The president noted 'somebody, somewhere will comment and say, Obama politicized this issue. Well, this is something we should politicize'
• Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley also called for new gun control legislation

By Francesca Chambers, White House Correspondent For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:11 EST, 2 October 2015 | Updated: 12:56 EST, 2 October 2015

Republican White House hopeful Mike Huckabee pounced on President Barack Obama's politicization of a shooting yesterday at an Oregon community college and accused him of 'shamelessly' trying to 'exploit' the tragedy.

'With few facts, Obama is quick to admittedly politicize this tragedy to advance his liberal, anti-gun agenda,' Huckabee said in a statement. 'For this president to make a political pronouncement is at best premature and at worst ignorantly inflammatory.'

Several hours after the shooting, Obama took the podium in the press briefing room at the White House and pleaded with Congress and responsible gun owners to support federal reforms he believes will prevent future killings.

Democrats hoping to succeed him in office soon followed suit. 

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Republican White House hopeful Mike Huckabee pounced on President Barack Obama's politicization of a shooting yesterday at an Oregon community college and accused him of 'shamelessly' trying to 'exploit' the tragedy

The Thursday massacre at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, left 10 dead, including the shooter, and another seven injured

The president noted in his remarks that 'somebody, somewhere will comment and say, Obama politicized this issue. '

'Well, this is something we should politicize,' he said. 

Obama posited that 'we have a Congress that explicitly blocks us from even collecting data on how we could potentially reduce gun deaths' and asked 'how can that be?'

'This is a political choice that we make to allow this to happen every few months in America,' he said. 'We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction.'

Obama said all Americans needed to reconsider their position on tightened firearms laws but put the onus on members of nation's largest gun lobby - the National Rifle Association.

'I would particularly ask America’s gun owners -- who are using those guns properly, safely, to hunt, for sport, for protecting their families -- to think about whether your views are properly being represented by the organization that suggests it's speaking for you,' he said.

The Thursday massacre at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, left 10 dead, including the shooter, and another seven injured.

In a mere 10 minutes, law enforcement says the accused shooter, Chris Harper Mercer, brought about the carnage with three pistols and a semiautomatic rifle. Witnesses say he targeted the killings at Christians and maimed students who didn't articulate their beliefs.

At the nearby fairgrounds, where evacuees of the school were taken, a candlelight vigil began last night. The college's president and other school officials spoke, and the grieving community chanted, 'We are UCC.'

Mercer's motives are still unknown but a preliminary investigation into his posts of a 4chan message board have provided authorities with a glimpse into the shooter's mindset and his disdain for organized religion.

Details began to trickle out yesterday afternoon about the shooting, which began at roughly 10:30am PST, or 1:30 EST. Obama made his remarks just before 6:30 pm.

Three hours later, Huckabee sent out a statement deriding Obama over his calls for new gun control laws.

'We hardly know any of the details about this horrific tragedy - What kind of gun was used? How did the shooter obtain it? What is the motive? Does the shooter have a history of mental illness? Was this an act of terror?' he said.

Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, said, 'Obama can shamelessly try and exploit any tragedy he wants, but it's clear that gun free zones are sitting duck zones.'

Students, staff and faculty are evacuated from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. after the shooting. The gunman's motives are still unknown but a preliminary investigation found he had a problem with organized religion

Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley said his heart is with the Roseburg community but acknowledged such statements are not enough.

Obama had said in his statement, 'We don't yet know why this individual did what he did. And it's fair to say that anybody who does this has a sickness in their minds, regardless of what they think their motivations may be.'

'But we are not the only country on Earth that has people with mental illnesses or want to do harm to other people. We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months,' he said.

Predicting the reaction of Republicans to his remarks and the shooting, Obama said the 'response of those who oppose any kind of common-sense gun legislation' has become too 'routine.'

'Right now, I can imagine the press releases being cranked out: We need more guns, they’ll argue. Fewer gun safety laws.'

'Does anybody really believe that?' he asked. 'There are scores of responsible gun owners in this country --they know that's not true. We know because of the polling that says the majority of Americans understand we should be changing these laws -- including the majority of responsible, law-abiding gun owners.'

Hillary Clinton said in an interview with ABC News' Boston affiliate WCBV that she was 'just sick of this.'

'I'm sick about it, and I feel an absolute urgency for this country to start being sensible about keeping guns away from people who should not have them,' he said.

Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president, said she would be pushing for greater gun control on the campaign trail and universal background checks.

'I would like us to be absolutely determined, as I am, to try to do something about this,' she said.

At the nearby fairgrounds, where evacuees of the school were taken, a candlelight vigil began last night. The college's president and other school officials spoke, and the grieving community chanted, 'We are UCC'

Vice President Joe Biden, who is still thinking over a White House bid, also took to Twitter to share his condolences, as did many of the presidential candidates. 'The safest place on earth should be our schools and colleges. My thoughts and prayers are with families who lost folks today #UCCShooting' he said

Donald Trump tweeted: 'My warmest condolences to the families of the horrible Roseburg, Oregon, shootings'

Vermont Senator and 2016 candidate for the White Houes Bernier Sanders said Thursday evening on Twitter that the nation 'must do everything we can to put an end to this awful epidemic of senseless slaughter.'

'The shouting at each other must end. The hard work of developing good policy must begin,' he said.

Earlier in the evening on MSNBC, Sanders said, 'I don’t know that anybody knows what the magic solution is. What we do know is the current situation is not tenable. It is clearly not working.'

'And as the president indicated, we can and must do a lot better,' he said. 'You can sit there and say I think we should do this and do that. But you’ve got a whole lot of states in this country where people want virtually no gun control at all.'

Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon from Maryland competing for the GOP nomination, was sitting down for a live interview with conservative radio giant Hugh Hewitt as news of the tragedy spread. 

Asked about it, Carson said, 'Obviously, there are those who are going to be calling for gun control. '

'Obviously, that’s not the issue,' he added. 'The issue is the mentality of these people.'

Leaning on his medical background, Carson said such shootings can be prevented by looking out for 'early warning' mental health signals.

'What I worry about is when we get to the point were we say we need to have every gun registered, he said. 'That’s very dangerous. And that I wouldn’t agree with at all.' 

Earlier in the evening on MSNBC, Sanders said, 'I don’t know that anybody knows what the magic solution is. What we do know is the current situation is not tenable. It is clearly not working'

Vice President Joe Biden, who is still thinking over a White House bid, also took to Twitter to share his condolences, as did many of the presidential candidates. 

'The safest place on earth should be our schools and colleges. My thoughts and prayers are with families who lost folks today #UCCShooting' he said.

Donald Trump tweeted: 'My warmest condolences to the families of the horrible Roseburg, Oregon, shootings.'

John Kasich, a Republican contender and the Ohio governor, said, 'The thoughts and prayers of Ohioans go out to the families & victims of the tragic shooting in Oregon today.'

Huckabee also said his 'prayers are with everyone in Oregon.' 

'May the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts,' he said on Twitter late Thursday afternoon.

Jeb Bush likewise said he was 'praying for Umpqua Community College, the victims, and families impacted by this senseless tragedy'. 

Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley said his 'heart' is with the Roseburg community, too, but acknowledged such statements are not enough.

'Tweets won't stop this. Thoughts and prayers won't, either. Only real gun reforms will stop mass shootings from occurring nearly every day,' he said.

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