‘Gun control won’t stop violence’
SEOUL: US President Donald Trump said tougher gun laws would not have prevented a mass shooting at a south Texas church, arguing more restrictions might have led to more casualties.
Trump spoke at a news conference in South Korea yesterday where he was asked about “extreme vetting” for gun purchases. “If you did what you’re suggesting, there would have been no difference three days ago and you might not have had that very brave person who happens to have a gun or a rifle in his trunk,” he said.
As he did following last month’s Las Vegas massacre of 58 people, Trump pushed back against the question, calling it a “situation that probably shouldn’t be discussed too much”. He said that if the Good Samaritan didn’t have a gun, “instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead”.
Authorities said Devin Patrick Kelley fired at least 450 rounds of ammunition at worshippers in Sunday’s attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.
Trump’s more muted response to gun violence contrasts with his swift call for legislative and military action following the October 31 truck attack in New York City.
Within hours of a rental truck ramming through a crowded bicycle path and into a school bus, Trump called for Congress to “immediately” repeal the diversity visa lottery programme that suspect Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbekistan citizen, used to enter the country in 2010.
After the Las Vegas shooting, Trump and aides said it was inappropriate to consider a policy response while people were still grieving. Despite days later suggesting openness to outlawing the bump stock device used by Stephen Paddock, the Trump administration has shown no signs of urgency.
Trump, who supported gun control before reversing his position to enter the Republican presidential primary, courted the National Rifle Association’s endorsement in 2016, and earlier this year became the first president in three decades to speak at the gun group’s annual convention.