Obama visit to Roseburg stirs local anger about his support for gun control after shooting

President Barack Obama's remarks in favor of gun control a few hours after the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College is sparking anger in Roseburg about his upcoming visit to the city.

David Jacques, a Republican activist who publishes a weekly newspaper in Roseburg, warned on national TV on Monday night that the president "is not welcome in the community."

Local social media sites in the conservative community are replete with criticism of the president, and several local officials said Obama should stay away from the subject of gun laws during his Friday visit.

"I was not pleased with the direction the commander-in-chief took" after the shootings, state Rep. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, said Tuesday. "Let's hope he can think to do better when he comes here. We can only hope."

The White House said Obama is traveling to Roseburg to "visit privately with families of victims of the shooting," leaving the impression he would not have any public events for what is expected to be a short visit.

The furor over the president's visit led the Roseburg City Council to issue a statement saying city officials will welcome Obama and "extend him every courtesy."

Council President Tom Ryan said in an interview Tuesday that the statement - which referred to "misrepresentations" made by some people - was aimed at Jacques, who claimed to have the support of community leaders.

If Obama "can help heal some families, more power to him," said Ryan, who also expressed concerns about what the president might say during his visit.

"We don't need to be in the middle of a national gun rights debate," Ryan said. "We have people who are healing. That is our main concern."

Jacques, who was a delegate to the 2012 Republican national convention, has been interviewed by Bill O'Reilly on Fox News and featured on several conservative websites.

He said in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive that Obama showed "blatant disregard for the mourning process," and he charged that the president is coming to Roseburg to recruit family members to speak out in favor of tougher gun laws.

A few hours after the Thursday shooting, Obama spoke at length in the White House press room about how expanded background checks and other laws would help reduce gun violence.

The president added: "And of course what's also routine is that somebody somewhere will comment and say, 'Obama politicized this issue.' Well, this is something we should politicize."

Jacques said two Douglas County commissioners - Tim Freeman and Chris Boice - as well as Sheriff John Hanlin on Saturday expressed support for a statement saying they were not interested in having the president visit if he is "coming here to take advantage of our crisis to promote his political agenda."

The sheriff and two commissioners could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Jeff Ackerman, editor and publisher of the Roseburg News-Review, the local daily newspaper, said it is one thing for the president to meet privately with the families of the victims.

"If he's going to stand on Main Street and talk about gun control," Ackerman said, "that's not going to go too well in Roseburg or Douglas County."

-- Jeff Mapes

503-221-8209

@jeffmapes

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