Politicians and celebrities from Canada and around the world have been reacting to the two mass shootings in the U.S., with some calling out the powerful U.S. gun lobby and urging stronger gun control.
Over the weekend, two mass shooters carried out violent massacres in Ohio and Texas, which combined left 30 people dead and about 49 injured in less than 24 hours.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has had a strained relationship with the White House over tariffs, focused on the victims and not gun control in his official response.
“Horrible news from El Paso today. Canadians are grieving with our American neighbours and friends for the lives that were senselessly taken, and wishing all those injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote on Saturday.
Neither of the main opposition federal party leaders have weighed in on the shootings on social media. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has pushed for stronger background checks in Canada but rejected calls for a handgun ban and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, has urged Ottawa to allow cities to ban handguns.
NDP MP Charlie Angus tweeted pointed criticism at the gun lobby, particularly at the National Rifle Association, which has strongly opposed gun legislation and any meaningful firearm restrictions.
“It is time to ban the directors of the #NRA from entering Canada. We need to put this organization on Canada's watch list of terrorist organizations,” he wrote in one in a series of fiery tweets. “Enough of this (expletive).”
REACTIONS AROUND THE WORLD
Meanwhile, across the world others are weighing in – including Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who said in a video that their attorney general was considering litigation claiming terrorism was committed against the seven Mexicans killed during the El Paso shooting.
In a tweet, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “solidarity with the victims, their loved ones and the American people.”
The El Paso shooting took place in a Walmart store -- a big box chain which sells firearms -- and the company’s CEO, Doug McMillon, took to Instagram to react.
“My heart aches for the community in El Paso, especially the associates and customers at store 2201 and the families of the victims of today’s tragedy,” McMillon said in a post.
Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter to say he was “heartbroken” about the recent mass shootings. “It's time for good people with different views to stop finger pointing and come together to address this violence for the good of our country,” he said.
The network provider CloudFlare even pulled their support for 8chan, the website where the El Paso gunman may have posted a “manifesto” before going on his rampage.
ELLEN PAGE, CARDI, B, AND JULLIANNE MOORE WEIGH IN
Canadian actor and vocal gun control advocate Ellen Page has been retweeting prominent activists, Democratic presidential candidates and other celebrities critical of stalled gun control action.
On Instagram, rapper Cardi B reshared a viral photo of the alleged El Paso shooter, who was charged with capital murder on Sunday, noting that he wasn’t an immigrant -- a group in the U.S. which Trump regularly targets as sources of crime.
Her post stated the shooter is not "an immigrant, not a Muslim, and not a member of ISIS," and stressed Trump’s plans for the U.S.-Mexico border would not solve the crisis.
Popular singer Lizzo tweeted “I feel completely helpless.. make noise & bring awareness.. vote.. don't normalize this."
In a tweet, actor Julianne Moore urged the U.S. Senate to impose tougher gun legislation and better background check; and called the mass shootings a “public health crisis.”
Actor Bradley Whitford pointed out on Twitter that the annual number of gun-related deaths in the U.S. far surpass the more than 3,000 killed during the September 11th terrorist attacks.
"The NRA/GOP think the blood of 40,000 innocent souls is the price of freedom,” he wrote. "Universal background checks are too high a price to pay. It is a perverse culture of death perpetrated for profit."
“Frozen” and “Book of Mormon” actor Josh Gad wrote on Twitter that his heart was breaking, adding “the madness never ends. It is all too much. There‘s nowhere safe from the terror of gun violence in the United States of America.”
He called out U.S. lawmakers as being unwilling to deal with the roots of the problem.
