Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she was stricken by the news of two journalists shot to death on live television and promised to pursue policies that could cut down on gun violence if she is elected president.
"We've had so many terrible instances of it in the last two years, but it happens every day," the 2016 Democratic front-runner said. "There is so much evidence that if guns were not so readily available, if we had universal background checks ... maybe we could prevent this kind of carnage."
Clinton also extended condolences to the victims' families and co-workers.
She spoke a few hours after reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward of WDBJ in Roanoke, Va., were gunned down during a live television interview by an apparently disgruntled former co-worker, who later killed himself.
The journalists were interviewing a local official at an outdoor shopping mall for a tourism story, when, at about 6:45 a.m., morning show viewers saw her suddenly scream and run, crying "Oh my God," as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun.
President Barack Obama and some members of Congress have tried several times in recent years to tighten gun control laws in response to mass shootings in Connecticut, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. Gun rights advocates have fought those efforts, saying they would infringe on people's constitutional rights.