WASHINGTON (AP) – For President Barack Obama, it’s become an all-too-frequent ritual: honoring the victims of mass shootings in communities across the country.
On Friday, Obama will mourn with the city of Charleston, South Carolina, where nine people were killed last week at a historic black church. He’ll deliver a eulogy at the funeral for a state lawmaker and pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Church, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney.
The deaths of Pinckney and eight others have sparked a debate in Southern states over the Confederate battle flag, which for years has flown at a memorial on the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse. But the slayings have also exposed the scant appetite in Washington for restarting discussions on gun control legislation, which have made no progress during Obama’s presidency.