Jimmy Kimmel Delivers Emotional Monologue Following Las Vegas Shooting

The late night host wants change—now.

Addressing the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Jimmy Kimmel opened his show with an emotional monologue, advocating for stricter gun control laws and publicly shaming 56 U.S. senators who've voted against tighter policies.

"Here we are again in the aftermath of another terrible, inexplicable, shocking and painful tragedy. This time in Las Vegas, which happens to be my hometown," Kimmel began. "Of course, we pray for the victims—and for their families and friends and we wonder why, even though there's probably no way to ever know why a human being would do something like this to other human beings who were at a concert having fun, listening to music."

Fighting back tears, Kimmel, 49, continued, "As a result of [the shooting] this morning, we have children without parents and fathers without sons, mothers without daughters. We lost two officers, we lost a nurse from Tennessee, we lost a special-ed teacher from a local school here in Manhattan Beach. It's the kind of thing that makes you want to throw up or give up. It's too much to even process."

After criticizing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' comments that now was "not the time" for political discourse, Kimmel said, "I don't know why our so-called leaders continue to allow this to happen. Or maybe a better question—why do we continue to let them allow it to happen?"

Kimmel went on, "I just want to laugh about things every night but it seems to be becoming increasingly difficult lately. It feels like someone has opened a window into hell. What I'm talking about tonight isn't about gun control. It's about common sense." He added, "Common sense says no good will ever come from allowing a person to have weapons that can take down 527 Americans at a concert. Common sense says you don't let those who suffer from mental illness buy guns."

As CNN reported, at least 59 people have died and hundreds more have been injured following a terrorist attack at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, had reportedly smuggled 23 guns into a nearby hotel and opened fire from his 32nd floor window.

Since the devastating event, a number of celebrities have spoken out against gun violence, including Ariana Grande, who'd experienced a terrorist attack at her Manchester Arena concert just months earlier.