Lorraine Kelly has described the Texas elementary school shooting as “appalling and shocking” and called for tighter gun control laws like those put in place after the Dunblane massacre of 1996. At least 19 children and two adults have been reported dead after a teenage gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in US city of Uvalde.
Famous names such as Matthew McConaughey, James Corden, Taylor Swift, Amy Schumer and Chris Evans have expressed their “rage and grief” in the wake of the tragedy. During her morning show on ITV, Scottish TV presenter Kelly, 62, became emotional as she spoke to reporter Ross King in Los Angeles.
She said: “Truly appalling and shocking news from the US overnight… Here we are again, another mass shooting and it doesn’t seem to ever end.”
Referring to Joe Biden, he added: “He’s the president of the United States, he has to try to do something, of course he has.”
Kelly questioned whether changing the language around the debate in the US from “gun control” to “gun safety” could help move it forward. She added: “I don’t know what we can do, but you know for sure that we’re going to be talking about this again and that is what is so enraging – that this will happen again.
“And, thoughts and prayers – I’m sorry, that’s just not going to cut it. It just isn’t, they’ve got to do something. Definitely.”
Kelly has been a vocal advocate for gun safety after she reported on the Dunblane shooting in March 1996, which saw Thomas Hamilton kill 16 pupils and their teacher in the gym hall of Dunblane Primary School before shooting himself.
She said: “Things did change, because the families made it change. They had to lobby very hard and obviously people in the country wanted to help as well and signed the petition, and changed the law, which is a remarkable achievement for families who were grieving. But in America they don’t seem to have the same sort of support.
“Surely any rational person would want to change this, to protect our children and our teachers? It doesn’t make any sense at all.”
The Texas shooting is the deadliest at a US primary school since the infamous Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six adults were killed almost a decade ago.
Hollywood star McConaughey, who was born in Uvalde, said the recent spate of mass shootings across America is “an epidemic we can control” and that “whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better”. Pop megastar Swift shared a video of Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who delivered an emotional message in a press conference before the NBA western conference finals.
“Filled with rage and grief, and so broken by the murders in Uvalde,” she wrote in a tweet.
Oscars co-host Schumer added: “We are grieving with the Uvalde community, a predominantly Latinx community, and everyone else impacted by yet another senseless act of violence in our schools.
