Watch Robert F. Kennedy discuss gun control 47 years ago in Roseburg, Oregon


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
In May of 1968, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy called for stricter gun control measures during a campaign stop in Roseburg, Oregon — the same town where a gunman killed nine people at Umpqua Community College last Thursday.
CBS News shared a clip Tuesday from the May 25, 1968, edition of CBS Evening News, with anchor Walter Cronkite saying Kennedy was answering "criticism from those who say legislation would deny Constitutional guarantees on the right to possess arms." Kennedy told the crowd that it was too easy for some people, like convicted murderers, to obtain guns through mail orders.
"A man on death row in Kansas, who killed half a dozen people, someone there sent for a rifle through the mail from Chicago for him to have a rifle while he was waiting on death row after killing people, and the rifle was sent to him," he said. "Does that make any sense that you should put rifles and guns in the hands of people who have long criminal records, people who are insane, people who are mentally incompetent, or people who are so young they don't know how to handle rifles or guns?" Kennedy was assassinated two weeks later in Los Angeles. Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Microscopic items
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily gossip: Chevy Chase says 'Community' wasn't 'funny enough' for him, Golden Globes to add a category for blockbuster movies, and more
The daily gossip: September 26, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Equality
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Former Philadelphia police officer charged with murder for Eddie Irizarry shooting
Speed Read
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
How Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's 22-year sentence compares to other Jan. 6 punishments
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Kansas police raid small-town local newspaper, setting off a press freedoms clash
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Ohio voters defeat GOP measure to raise referendum threshold
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Ohio is voting on whether to raise the bar on referendums — and a popular abortion amendment
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Oregon lifts ban on drivers pumping their own gas
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Former Manson follower Leslie Van Houten out of prison after 50 years
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Florida construction and agricultural workforces diminished after new immigration law takes effect
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published