In the hours after the shooting at YouTube’s California headquarters, voices on both sides of the gun debate weighed in on the ongoing national conversation, including the National Rifle Association and high-profile tech CEOs.
Commentators on NRA-TV, the streaming channel run by the NRA, speculated that perhaps the infrastructure and security measures at the Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)-owned web portal were to blame.
The channel has featured outspoken gun advocates. NRA-TV correspondent Chuck Holton, a former Army Ranger, pointed to the shooting as an example of how stricter gun control measures may not equal a greater level of safety.
“In this case, age restrictions wouldn’t have done anything. California has a ban on assault rifles. They have a ban on high capacity magazines. There’s a 10-day waiting period for any firearm purchase,” said Holton.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who has been a vocal advocate for gun control, called for action and reform and offered her prayers to those affected.
“We simply must take meaningful steps to stop these shootings and stem the tide of gun violence in our communities. We are a nation awash in guns. While we have just four percent of the world’s population, we have 42 percent of the world’s guns. Something must be done,” said Feinstein in a statement.
Several CEOs of tech companies took to Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) to send their best wishes and to comment on the gun debate.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent out a tweet offering his support to the YouTube community.
There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today. @SusanWojcicki & I are focused on supporting our employees & the @YouTube community through this difficult time together. Thank you to the police & first responders for their efforts, and to all for msgs of support.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 3, 2018
Shares of Alphabet, the parent company of Google which is the parent company of YouTube, were flat in midday trading.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos also tweeted about the shooting, calling it a “truly tragic day for YouTube and Google.”
Horrible and truly tragic day for YouTube and Google. We are wishing all our very best for the injured and all those affected.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 3, 2018
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook sent his support on behalf of the company.
From everyone at Apple, we send our sympathy and support to the team at YouTube and Google, especially the victims and their families.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 3, 2018
Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) CEO Jack Dorsey took a strong stance on the platform, calling out the US’s reactive policy in response to gun violence and promoting March for Our Lives, the student-led demonstration for tighter gun restrictions.
We can’t keep being reactive to this, thinking and praying it won’t happen again at our schools, jobs, or our community spots. It’s beyond time to evolve our policies. This is a simple and reasonable approach, and it won’t solve all, but it’s a good start: https://t.co/ADYalbaO57 https://t.co/nbXpH9DDyT
— jack (@jack) April 3, 2018
The conversation continued on Twitter on Wednesday, with the shooting still featured in Twitter's Moments section in the news category and more than 25,800 tweets posted under the hashtag YouTubeShooter.