A couple embraces following a mass shooting in Wednesday in San Bernadino, California. Democrats have criticized their GOP colleagues for offering only "thoughts and prayers" after such incidents instead of taking action. Democrats to GOP: Prayers are not enough 'I would much rather have moments of action than moments of silence,' Rep. Schiff says about the latest mass shooting.

Democrats are scolding their Republican colleagues for not backing up their calls for "thoughts and prayers" with real action that could curb the gun violence plaguing the United States.

As Americans are trying to make sense of Wednesday's massacre in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 and injured more than 20, Democratic voices are saying enough with the platitudes.


Appearing on CNN's "New Day" on Thursday morning, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said he is through with moments of silence, noting that he had been part of a moment of silence on the House floor mere days ago after a gunman killed three at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, last Friday.

"This has become a ritual in the House. I would much rather have moments of action than moments of silence on the House floor," Schiff said.

"Your 'thoughts' should be about steps to take to stop this carnage. Your 'prayers' should be for forgiveness if you do nothing - again," tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday. Murphy's state is approaching the three-year anniversary of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown.

As the situation unfolded thousands of miles away in California, Richard Blumenthal, one of the Connecticut's Democratic senators, tweeted that "Congress is effectively complicit for its inaction."

In the aftermath of Wednesday's shooting, in which the motive is still unknown, several Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates shared messages on social media expressing that their thoughts and prayers went out to the victims and their families. Newly installed House Speaker Paul Ryan asked for a moment of silence on Wednesday evening as he kicked off a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. "Before I begin I just want to say that we are all thinking of the current and ongoing tragedy in California today," Ryan said. "Please keep the victims and their families in your prayers right now."

In what has become a ritual in itself, members of the two parties pointed the blame across diverging lines. While Democratic voices have emphasized the issue of gun violence, Republicans have largely framed their initial response in terms of ensuring that the mentally ill not be able to acquire guns and in terms of enforcing existing laws. Members on both sides have called Wednesday's shooting terrorism of some kind, but in different ways.

Appearing on "CBS This Morning" on Thursday, Ryan said Congress needs to fix the country's laws concerning the ability of people with mental illness to acquire firearms and carry out such shootings. "What we have seen is the theme of mental illness, and we need to fix our mental illness laws, our policies. They’re outdated, and that is something that we are working on right now," he said, referring to Murphy's bill to overhaul the mental health system.

He also called attention to growing concerns about homegrown terrorism.

“Now, without knowing the facts in San Bernardino, we also know that there are homegrown jihadists," the speaker said. "We also know that there are ISIS inspirational events, and we need to figure out how to handle that as well. So there are multiple things that need to be addressed, and we are working on those that need to be addressed.”

Ted Cruz also played up the terrorism angle. Addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday morning, he tore into the White House's approach to such violent events, saying that the fact that Wednesday's shooting came on the heels of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris "underscores that we are at a time of war."

"Whether or not the current administration realizes it or is willing to acknowledge it, our enemies are at war with us," the Texas senator said. "And I believe this nation needs a wartime president to defend it."

But it's not just Republicans talking about the potential terrorism element. Shortly after Cruz's remarks, Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley appeared on MSNBC for a previously scheduled interview, where he acknowledged that the shooting could be a case of domestic terrorism but that gun laws are an underlying factor.

"Look, this may well be an act of domestic terrorism, but it’s also one that’s made easier by the fact that we're the only developed nation on the planet that doesn't do a damn thing to keep combat assault weapons out of the hands of those who shouldn't be able to get them," he told José Díaz-Balart.

Bernie Sanders, who has received heavy criticism from Hillary Clinton about his mixed voting record on gun measures, unleashed a series of tweets Thursday from his Senate account, calling for an end to various loopholes and for improving mental health care.

We need to close the gun show loophole. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 3, 2015

We need to close loopholes that allow domestic abusers and stalkers to obtain guns. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 3, 2015

We need to strengthen penalties for straw purchasers who buy guns from licensed dealers on behalf of people prohibited from buying a gun. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 3, 2015

We must greatly expand and improve our mental health capabilities so individuals and families can get help they need when they need it. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 3, 2015

Clinton herself tweeted Wednesday afternoon, "I refuse to accept this as normal. We must take action to stop gun violence now. -H."

There has been growing frustration that little has been done in Washington regarding gun violence, despite a series of wrenching and frequent mass shootings. The most significant reform push came after the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and six adults. But the legislative effort ultimately fell apart, with reform advocates continually pleading for action as the number of mass shootings rises. The Washington Post reported Friday that more mass shootings had occurred in 2015 than days in the year up to that point— 351 mass shootings in 334 days.

Many have blamed the entrenched power of the National Rifle Association, while others have placed some fault with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, accusing them of not pushing forcefully enough and seizing on fleeting momentum sparked by some of the shootings.

On the Senate floor Thursday morning, Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the NRA the "quasi-militant wing of the Republican Party."

"Those who choose to do the NRA's bidding will be held accountable by our constituents," Reid said. "Something has to be done. We must take a stand. The American people are desperately looking for help, some help, any help. It will never be possible to prevent every shooting. We know that. But we have a responsibility to try. There are certain things we can do."

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was more blunt: "Our thoughts and prayers are not even close to being enough."

As the situation was still unfolding Wednesday afternoon, Obama expressed frustration in a CBS News interview with Norah O’Donnell that there appears to be no end in sight for these tragedies.

“We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world,” Obama said. “And there's some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently.”

Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, Obama repeated that the U.S. needs to act. "We all have a part to play. And I do think that as the investigation moves forward, it’s going to be important for all of us, including our legislatures, to see what we can do to make sure that when individuals decide that they want to do somebody harm, we’ll make it a little harder for them to do it. Because right now it’s just too easy," he said.

It’s not clear, however, that gun law changes have any better chance now than they did in the recent past.

At least one newspaper joined Democrats in taking offense to Republicans' condolence messages in light of the latest shooting.

"GOD ISN'T FIXING THIS," the New York Daily News' front page blared Thursday, featuring tweets from Republicans, including Ryan and presidential candidates Cruz and Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

This has been on the cover far too often. https://t.co/kpSUXcAiOA pic.twitter.com/BrHzTr5zsU — New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 3, 2015





Elsewhere on Twitter, Igor Volsky, a staffer at liberal outlet ThinkProgress, drew wide notice on the network, becoming a Twitter Moment for an ongoing tweetstorm calling out Republicans for skirting the issue.



Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.