7/14/2013
By Ivan Pereira
President Barack Obama urged Americans not to let their emotions get the best of them following George Zimmerman’s acquittal.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, however, vowed to beef up his fight against the gun lobby and get weapons off the streets.
The president called Trayvon Martin’s death tragic and acknowledged that it will elicit “strong emotions.”
Obama said people need to respect the verdict.
“I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son,” the president said in a statement.
The mayor, the co-chair of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition, said Martin’s death should push people to advocate for more gun control.
“[O]ne fact has long been crystal clear: ‘shoot first’ laws like those in Florida can inspire dangerous vigilantism and protect those who act recklessly with guns,” Bloomberg said in a statement released Sunday.
