Donald Trump Says West Texas Shooting ‘Hasn’t Changed Anything’ In Regards To Gun Control Talks
After an unidentified gunman went on a shooting spree Saturday in West Texas, killing seven and leaving more than 20 wounded, calls for tighter gun control were once again heard across the country. The shooting came on the final day of August, the same month that Patrick Crusius and Connor Betts carried out mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, respectively.
The Hill reports that Donald Trump spoke to reporters at the White House Sunday after returning from Camp David and said that the West Texas shooting “hasn’t changed anything” in regards to congressional talks about gun control. He also said that stricter background checks would have done nothing to stop the mass shootings that have taken place over the last several years and reaffirmed his belief that gun violence is a mental health issue.
“We’re looking at the same things,” he said. “It really hasn’t changed anything.”
Trump also addressed possible gun reform measures.
“A lot of people are talking about it and that’s irrespective of what happened yesterday in Texas,” he said.
“We’re looking at a lot of different things. We’re looking at a lot of different bills. Ideas, concepts. It’s been going on for a long while.”
The president also said he believes the West Texas shooter was a “very sick person” and praised Texas Governor Greg Abbott and state law enforcement for their “incredible” handling of the situation. He thanked everybody involved and said that — despite the tragedy of the situation — things could have been much worse.
JUST IN: Trump says Texas mass shooting “hasn’t changed anything” on gun reform talks https://t.co/Mwr1XXKcvs pic.twitter.com/vMaiEVv1j1
— The Hill (@thehill) September 1, 2019
Per The Inquisitr, a recent Wall Sreet Journal/NBC poll of 834 registered voters suggested that 89 percent of Americans are in favor of Congress expanding gun control background checks. In addition, 79 percent are in favor of “red flag” laws to give law enforcement the legal right to remove guns from the hands of people believed to pose a danger to themselves or others.
As reported by Oregon Live, former marine Shane Kohfield recently had his guns temporarily confiscated using Oregon’s new red flag law after he publicly threatened violence against antifa. He was also committed to a veterans’ hospital in Portland, where he spent 20 days.
“If antifa gets to the point where they start killing us, I’m going to kill them next,” he said. “I’d slaughter them and I have a detailed plan on how I would wipe out antifa.”
According to Michael German, a retired FBI agent, the move against Kohfield shows that federal law enforcement may begin to start acting more aggressively against potential gun violence threats.
