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Jimmy Kimmel and More Late-Night Hosts Discuss Gun Control in Emotional Monologues After Las Vegas Shooting

Every late-night show kicked off on a serious note on Monday, October 2, as the hosts addressed the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Jimmy Kimmel delivered one of his most emotional monologues to date on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as he paid tribute to the 59 people who were killed and the 527 who were injured when a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel suite on Sunday, October 1.

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“This morning, we have children without parents and fathers without sons, mothers without daughters,” a visibly emotional Kimmel, 49, said. “We lost two police officers. We lost a nurse from Tennessee. A special-ed teacher from a local school here in Manhattan Beach. It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to throw up or give up. It’s too much to even process — all these devastated families who now have to live with this pain forever because one person with a violent and insane voice in his head managed to stockpile a collection of high-powered rifles and use them to shoot people.”

Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel Randy Holmes/ABC

The comedian then called on President Donald Trump and Congress to address gun control. “[Trump] spoke this morning, he said he was praying for those who lost their lives. You know, in February, he also signed a bill that made it easier for people with severe mental illness to buy guns legally,” Kimmel said. “The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, a number of other lawmakers who won’t do anything about this because the NRA has their balls in a money clip, also sent their thoughts and their prayers today, which is good. They should be praying. They should be praying for God to forgive them for letting the gun lobby run this country. Because it is … so crazy.”

Stephen Colbert also pleaded with Congress to act in wake of the tragedy in Vegas, which is now the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. “The bar is so low right now that Congress can be heroes by doing literally anything,” he said on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. “Universal background checks, or come up with a better answer. Enforce [Barack] Obama’s executive order that denied the mentally ill gun purchases, or a better answer. Reinstate the assault weapons ban, or come up with a better answer. Anything but nothing. Doing nothing is cowardice. Doing something will take courage.”

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Speaking directly to Trump, Colbert, 53, added, “Want to make America great again? Do something the last two presidents haven’t been able to do. Pass any kind of common sense gun control legislation that the vast majority of Americans want. Because if we are facing pure evil, then by all means, offer thoughts and prayers. But think about what you need to do and pray for the courage to do it.”

Trevor Noah echoed similar sentiments. “We seem to do everything to avoid talking about guns,” the South Africa native, 33, said on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah. “I’ve never been to a country where people are as afraid to speak about guns. Every time there’s a shooting, you gotta look at something else. Is it Muslims? Is it their religion, is that what it is? Is it blacks? It’s the blacks. It’s the black-on-black crime. Is it mentally ill people? Is it white nationalists? Every time, it’s a different question. And now, after this incident in Las Vegas, we’re asking a new question: Is it hotels?”

James Corden also reflected upon his home country of England. “I heard today a commentator on the news explaining that there is no real way to prevent lone wolf mass shootings like this. And forgive me, because I’m just a foreigner here and some of you feel I have no place to say this: But how does every other developed country do a better job of preventing these attacks?” the actor, 39, said on The Late Late Show With James Corden. “We can’t be surprised that gun crime will always occur where there is such wide availability of guns.”

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Meanwhile, Seth Meyers called out lawmakers for their silence on the issue. “I would just like to say, are there no steps we can take as a nation to prevent gun violence? Or is this just how it is and how it’s going to continue to be?” the Late Night With Seth Meyers host, 43, asked. “Because when you say, which you always say, ‘Now is not the time to talk about it,’ what you really mean is there is never a time to talk about it. And it would be so much more honest if you would just admit that your plan is to never talk about it and never take any action.”

Jimmy Fallon, for his part, forwent a monologue and instead started The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with an emotional performance by Miley Cyrus and Adam Sandler, who played a cover of Dido‘s “No Freedom.”

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