Elliot Rodger’s shooting spree had Sen. Dianne Feinstein lamenting the “stranglehold” the NRA has over gun laws.  

“The deadly shooting in Isla Vista is heartbreaking,” the California Democrat said Sunday in a statement. “Schools should be places of safety, not where students fear for their lives.”  

Feinstein questioned why Elliot Rodger was able to legally obtain and keep his guns.  

“We must ask ourselves if an individual whose family called police with concerns about mental health, who is receiving therapy and who has had several run-ins with police should be allowed to own multiple firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. When anyone, no matter their mental health or history, can so easily obtain any gun they want and as many as they want—we must recognize there is a problem. “Unfortunately the NRA continues to have a stranglehold on Congress, preventing even commonsense measures like universal background checks that have overwhelming support. Americans need to rise up and say enough is enough. Until that happens, we will continue to see these devastating attacks. Shame on us for allowing this to continue.”  

Separately, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., pushed for Congress to pass his mental health legislation in the wake of the Elliot Rodger’s rampage in Isla Vista .  

An effort to pass background checks and a package of mental health initiatives was torpedoed by a GOP-led filibuster in the Senate last year .