Democrats call for gun control after Oregon school shooter reportedly uses shotgun purchased by his mother

Several high-profile renewed calls for gun control after a teenager broke into an elementary school Thursday and before being killed by an armed bystander.

Sen. Ron Wyden, who has represented Oregon in since 1996, made one of the most explicit calls for tighter gun laws following the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, where the 16-year-old attacker used his mothers shotgun, according to The Associated Press.

"The best way to honor these victims is to at long last pass common-sense gun laws that reduce the risks of more children, parents, teachers and staff forced to live in fear of similar nightmares for their schools," Wyden said in a statement.

Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., said Thursday night that "the epidemic of gun violence in schools across America must come to an end."

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"No parent should have to wonder if their child will come home at the end of the day," Bonamici said. "Children deserve to feel safe — and be safe — in school."

Democratic Rep. Janelle Bynum represents Oregons 5th Congressional District, which includes Bend. She attended a nighttime vigil for the teacher and children — aged 5, 8 and 11 — who were killed in the shooting.

"When are we going to step up and say enough of killing our babies? When are we going to say that we need safe schools, that we need to make sure that people who should not have firearms dont have them? When are we going to stop making excuses? When are we going to practice that same bravery that that bystander had?" Bynum told KTVZ 21, a local NBC station in Bend, at the event.

Statements from Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and the state's Democratic governor, Tina Kotek, stopped short of calling for new regulation on guns, but both made it clear gun violence should have no place in American schools.

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Democrats outside of Oregon appeared a bit freer to express support for going further on gun control, especially in the early aftermath of the shooting, which also left another child, 7, and a teacher, 54, critically injured.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said the gun reforms passed after the Uvalde school shooting — including enhanced background checks for buyers under 21 — did not go far enough.

"Much more must be done. Not a single child should be lost to gun violence. Ever," Heinrich said in a statement posted to social media.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who supports federal red-flag laws and universal background checks, had a similar message.

"No family should ever have to suffer like this—and there have been over 50 school shootings just this year," she wrote on social media. "Congress must do much more to prevent gun violence."

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