Mr. O’Brien added: “I am a father of two. I like to believe I have a shred of common sense, and I simply do not understand why anybody in this country is allowed to purchase and own a semiautomatic assault rifle. It makes no sense to me.”

His voice rising, Mr. O’Brien said: “These are weapons of war, and they have no place in civilian life. I have tried to understand this issue from every side, and it all comes down to this: Nobody I know or have ever met in my entire life should have access to a weapon that can kill so many people so quickly.”

Samantha Bee

At the start of her TBS show, “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” a visibly exasperated Ms. Bee asked, “Hey, is it O.K. if, instead of making jokes, I just scream for seven minutes until we go to commercial?”

Anticipating the kinds of remarks that the Orlando shooting was likely to elicit from her and other hosts, she said: “After a massacre, the standard operating procedure is that you stand on stage and deliver some well-meaning words about how we will get through this together, how love wins, how love conquers hate and that is great. That is beautiful. But you know what?”

Ms. Bee added, “I am too angry for that. Love does not win unless we start loving each other enough to fix our problems.” She used an expletive before “problems,” for emphasis.