Thousand Oaks shooting victim’s mother: ‘I don’t want prayers, I don’t want thoughts — I want gun control’

Among the 13 dead from the mass shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California this Wednesday was Telemachus Orfanos. Orfanos was a survivor of the Las Vegas shooting, only to be cut down by guman Ian Long, who had a history of mental illness but was able to purchased the gun he used in the massacre legally. Long died at the scene of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

His mother, Susan Orfanos, was interviewed by a local ABC affiliate in the wake of the shooting. Her words amounted to one of the most impassioned and heartbreaking pleas for gun control broadcast on live TV yet.

My son was in Las Vegas with a lot of his friends and he came home,” she said Thursday morning. “He didn’t come home last night. And I don’t want prayers. I don’t want thoughts. I want gun control, and I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers. I want gun control. No more guns.”

BuzzFeed News followed up with Orfanos, and she reiterated her comments without taking a single step back.

“I have two words: gun control,” she said. “Now, now, now, now. No more NRA. No more money. Gun control now.”

Below are the victims of Wednesday’s shooting:

Sgt. Ron Helus, 54

Telemachus Orfanos, 27

Cody Gifford-Coffman, 22

Kristina Morisette, 20

Alaina Housley, 18

Justin Meek, 23

Daniel Manrique, 33

Sean Adler, 48

Noel Sparks, 21

Blake Dingman, 21

Jake Dunham, 21

Mark Meza, 20

Featured image via screen grab/Facebook

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.