Kamala Harris makes powerful plea for stronger gun control laws after California school shooting

Following a shooting at California's Saugus High School, presidential candidate Kamala Harris went on MSNBC to poignantly lament the ways in which the government has failed to act on gun control.

"It is pathetic that people yield to a gun lobby on an issue that affects all our children," Harris explained. "And by the way, these babies — and I mean those elementary, middle, and high school kids — could care less who their parents voted for in the last election. They are terrified. And we need to act."

The shooting took place about 30 miles north of Los Angeles in Santa Clarita Thursday morning. Two children, one 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, have died from the shooting, CNN reports.

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Harris also took aim at the inaction of fellow congresspeople, saying "What a failure of the people who walk around with these lapel pins around Congress, and they got their staff running after them as if though they're royalty, and they take all of the attributes and all of the benefits of their supposed role of leadership, but when it comes to a moment when they really should lead they fail. It is tragic."

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Earlier in the interview, Harris talked about how active shooter drills affect the young children she meets. "I've had 8-year-olds, 6-year-olds tug at my jacket after I talk about these drills," she said. "And as though it's a secret between us, they will whisper 'I had to have one of those drills.' It is traumatizing our kids."

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At about the same time the news broke of the shooting, Republicans blocked a universal gun background check bill, according to Bloomberg News reporter Sahil Kapur.

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Harris ended the interview with a powerful plea for a practical solution. "Until we have federal laws that create universal standards for who can own a weapon, who can buy a weapon, what kind of weapon can be owned and possessed, we're going to continue to see these kind of tragedies."