Stars call for stricter gun controls after killings

Hollywood star Josh Gad has hit out at “worthless” US politicians as he confirmed a friend’s young son died in the Florida school shooting.

The stage and screen actor, 36, had earlier said the youngster was in a critical condition after being shot in the chest.

He wrote on Twitter on Thursday afternoon: “Last night, I received a text while I slept that our friend’s son passed away from his gunshot wound.

“My grief for this family and the many others knows no bounds.

“I’m so sorry this happened. I’m so sorry our leaders are worthless. I’m so sorry we are bound to repeat this again.”

Gad had earlier hit out at politicians in Florida who received funding from the National Rifle Association and was joined by other stars in calling for tighter gun controls in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School which left 17 people dead.

Kim Kardashian West and Julianne Moore were among celebrities calling for stronger restrictions in the wake of the atrocity.

Boogie Nights actress Moore tweeted: “The 18th school shooting in the US since January. It is heartbreaking. What will it take to change our nation’s gun laws ???”

Kardashian West said: “We owe it to our children and our teachers to keep them safe while at school.

“Prayers won’t do this: action will. Congress, please do your job and protect Americans from senseless gun violence.”

Singer Nancy Sinatra called on the Republican Party to pass “sensible” gun laws immediately. “Seventeen more of our young people dead, killed by a shooter with an automatic weapon he had no business having,” she said.

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres added: “No words, no actions, no laws are enough until we end this epidemic of school shootings in our country.”

Yet again, this week has featured tragic news of a mass shooting at a school in the United States. An orphaned 19-year-old with what is described as a “troubled” past has been charged with killing 17 people. It is a truly appalling case – and yet depressingly familiar. We have become accustomed to reading such dreadful headlines but they still have the power to shock and bewilder.

Despite it being the deadliest school shooting in the States for five years, this week’s slaughter also represents the 18th of the year. It is an astonishing statistic.

The year is barely six weeks old, meaning there has been an average of three shootings a week.

It is impossible – thankfully – to imagine the kind of outcry that would occur in this country should such attacks happen with that kind of regularity.

To an extent Americans have become used to mass shootings but there must come a time to say enough is enough.

Such senseless loss of life must be stopped – and there is considerable evidence that public grief is rapidly turning to anger.

Yesterday a host of celebrities, from Kim Kardashian West to Nancy Sinatra, called for tighter gun restrictions.

The gun lobby may be hugely powerful but it will surely become increasingly difficult for the authorities to ignore the demands for meaningful intervention.

Picture: AP. Julianne Moore was one of many who called for action.