In Front of Newtown Parents Obama Says Gunman Fired '154 Bullets Into His Victims'

April 8th, 2013 7:45 PM

President Obama got a little too graphic in his gun control speech at Hartford, Connecticut, Monday.

With parents, family members, and friends of some of the Newtown victims present, Obama said we need to "make it harder for a gunman to fire 154 bullets into his victims in less than five minutes." 

BARACK OBAMA: Hello, Connecticut. Thank you. Well, thank you so much, everybody. Let me begin by thanking Nicole and Ian for your brave words.

For the record, Obama was introduced by Nicole and Ian Hockley whose son Dylan was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

OBAMA: I want to thank them and all the Newtown families who've come here today including your first selectman Pat Llodra. Nobody could be, nobody could be more eloquent than Nicole and the other families on this issue. And we are so grateful for their courage and willingness to share their stories again and again, understanding that nothing's going to be more important in making sure the Congress moves forward this week than hearing from them. I want to thank all the educators from Sandy Hook Elementary who've come here as well. The survivors, the survivors who still mourn and grieve, but are still going to work every day, to love and raise those precious children in their care as fiercely as ever.


About ten minutes later:

OBAMA: We have to tell Congress it's time to restore the ban on military-style assault weapons and a ten-round limit for magazines to make it harder for a gunman to fire 154 bullets into his victims in less than five minutes. Let's put that to a vote.

If I had been in that audience, and one of my children had been killed at that school, I would have found that comment far too graphic and inappropriate.

The President surely could have made his point without using the specific number of bullets fired at those poor children with their parents, family members, and friends present.