President Obama (Creative Commons)

President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney put their campaigns on hold today out of respect for the victims of the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 and injured 59.

According to the Associated Press, the two men spoke "as parents," not as politicians:

• "There are going to be other days for politics," Obama said from one key electoral state, Florida…  "Michelle and I will be fortunate enough to hug our girls a little tighter tonight, and I'm sure you will do the same with your children."
• Likewise, Romney said to his audience [in New Hampshire], "Each one of us will hold our kids a little closer." He said, "I stand before you today not as a man running for office, but as a father and grandfather, a husband, an American."

The topic the candidates will likely have to tackle next will be gun control, as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other politicians have begun demanding what the President will do.

Both Obama and Romney said nothing about gun control on Friday.

According to CBS, some have been critical of Obama's lack of initiative regarding gun control:

• "The president has not shown sufficient leadership on the gun issue," Dennis Henigan, vice president of the Brady Campaign, said in an interview. He noted that the president has not followed through on a campaign promise to try to reinstate an assault weapons ban and has not proposed any gun legislation in office. 
• Henigan said there have been signs, however, that Mr. Obama "has shown a willingness to stand up to the gun lobby" in recent years.

While Democrats gave similar views and demands that gun control be revisited, The Huffington Post reported Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert taking a different stance:

• "It does make me wonder, with all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying a gun that could have stopped this guy more quickly?" he asked.