A mother of an Orlando nightclub shooting victim gave an emotional plea for "common sense gun policies" during the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
Christine Leinonen, mother of Pulse nightclub shooting victim Christopher "Drew" Leinonen, said her son was a leader in the LGBT community and a Hillary Clinton supporter.
"It was in his DNA that loves always trumps hate," Leinonen said in a comment critical of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
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Leinonen, a former Michigan state trooper, was join on stage by Brandon Wolf and Jose Arraigada, two survivors of the massacre.
The Orlando nightclub shooting, where suspect with two guns killed 49 people last month, is labeled the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
The shooting brought home two of the most divisive political debates roiling Georgia and the nation: the fight over gay rights and gun control.
"Please, let's all just get along," Christine Leinonen said after her son was killed. "We're on this Earth for such a short time. Let's try to get rid of the hatred and the violence, please."
In response to Orlando, Hillary Clinton called the shooting an "act of terror” and called for tighter gun-control measures.
Donald Trump called the shooting "unthinkable" and said incidents like Orlando were "going to happen again and again and again." He also reiterated his proposal for temporary ban on immigration from Muslim countries with ties to terrorism.
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