--- description: The Democratic candidate makes her first public comments since the attack title: Hillary Clinton Reacts To Charleston Murders, Calls For Action on Guns image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ca728f6d8bbe893/6988553d428a9e974dccdca2/hillary-clinton5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hillary Clinton Calls for Action on Guns After Charleston Shooting ## Video: Second Amendment: The Origins of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms [Watch (HLS stream): Second Amendment: The Origins of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qZX90LbJ.m3u8) (3:22)  _Published 2011-06-30. Why did the framers of the U.S. constitution demand the right of the people to keep and bear arms?_  by [Philip Eliott / Las Vegas](/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Eliott / Las Vegas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 18, 2015 8:13 PM CUT  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a campaign stop in North Charleston, S.C. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a campaign stop in North Charleston, S.C.David Goldman—AP  by [Philip Eliott / Las Vegas](/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Eliott / Las Vegas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 18, 2015 8:13 PM CUT Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton challenged the nation Thursday to take new actions to curb gun violence in her first reactions to the shooting inside a historically black Charleston, S.C., church that left nine dead. “How many people do we need to see cut down before we act?” she asked, during a summit of elected and appointed Latino politicians meeting in Las Vegas. She began by saying that her thoughts and prayers were with the victims and their families in the shooting, before turning to a broader discussion of police. “So as we mourn and as our hearts break a little more, and as we send this message of solidarity that we will not forsake those who have been victimized by gun violence, this time we have to find answers together,” Clinton said. Police said they had in custody suspect Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old man who spent almost an hour inside the church Wednesday night before opening fire. Officials were not ascribing motives for Roof, who is white, and his killings inside one of Charleston’s most prominent black churches. “Cut down at prayer. Murdered in a house of God. It just broke my heart. That of course is the last place we should see violence. But we shouldn’t see it anywhere,” Clinton said. “In the days ahead, we will again ask what led to this terrible tragedy and where we as a nation need to go. In order to make sense of it, we have to be honest. We have to face hard truths about race, violence, guns and division.” Clinton visited Charleston on Wednesday before the killings. “I left feeling not only great about Charleston but also great about America,” Clinton said of the South Carolina city. When she landed in Las Vegas hours later, she learned of the killings. “The shock and pain of this crime of hate strikes deep,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3927143/charleston-church-shooting-hillary-clinton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3927143/charleston-church-shooting-hillary-clinton/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton Calls for Action on Guns After Charleston Shooting","datePublished":"2015-06-18T20:13:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:20:41.908Z","description":"The Democratic candidate makes her first public comments since the attack","url":"https://time.com/3927143/charleston-church-shooting-hillary-clinton/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Guns"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ca728f6d8bbe893/6988553d428a9e974dccdca2/hillary-clinton5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Eliott / Las Vegas"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ca728f6d8bbe893/6988553d428a9e974dccdca2/hillary-clinton5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hillary Rodham Clinton","caption":"Hillary Rodham Clinton","creditText":"David Goldman—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3927143/charleston-church-shooting-hillary-clinton/","name":"Hillary Clinton Calls for Action on Guns After Charleston Shooting"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Second Amendment: The Origins of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms","description":"Why did the framers of the U.S. constitution demand the right of the people to keep and bear arms?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qZX90LbJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-06-30T16:09:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qZX90LbJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3927143/charleston-church-shooting-hillary-clinton/","duration":"PT3M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3927143/charleston-church-shooting-hillary-clinton/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```