The Perry school shooting creates new questions for Republicans in Iowa’s presidential caucuses

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Associated Press

CUMMING, Iowa (AP) — The shooting in Perry, Iowa, has cast a shadow over the state’s upcoming first-in-the-nation Republican presidential caucuses. Three candidates were asked about it Thursday and Friday at campaign stops as they gear up for the Jan. 15 caucuses. Some were just a short drive from the school where a 17-year-old junior opened fire as students were returning from winter break. One sixth grader was killed and five other people were injured. No candidates in Iowa pushed for new gun control measures. That’s both a reflection of how commonplace attacks like the one in Perry have become in American life and of the Republican Party’s unease with any new restrictions on guns.