Blame mental ills – not arms plague: Trump
GUNS DON’T kill people — mentally people kill people.
President Trump on Monday said the horrific shooting at a small Texas church isn’t a “guns situation” — it’s only about mental health.
“This was a very, based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual. A lot of problems over a long period of time,” Trump said Monday during a news conference in Japan. “We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn’t a guns situation.”
Devin Kelley, decked out in tactical gear, on Sunday used an assault rifle to kill 26 congregants of a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, authorities said. His victims ranged in age from 18 months to 77.
Kelly was a former airman who was booted in 2014 after serving a one-year confinement after being court-martialed for assaulting his wife and child.
An armed neighbor of the church spotted Kelley as he tried leaving the scene, and managed to shoot him twice. Kelley later killed himself. “Fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise it (wouldn’t) have been as bad as it ill was. It would have been much worse,” Trump said.
“But this is a mental health problem at the highest level,” he continued. “It’s a very, very sad event.”
Vice President Pence (photo inset, right) tweeted that he will visit Sutherland Springs on Wednesday. “We are with you Texas,” he wrote.
It was one of the worst mass shootings in American history — coming roughly a month after the worst, when Stephen Paddock rained carnage down on an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, killing 58 and injuring hundreds.
He carried out the slaughter with the assistance of a device called a bump stock that Congress initially expressed interest in outlawing or regulating — but they have yet to take any action.
“More than a month after Las Vegas, we still can’t even tackle the most obvious fixes — like banning bump stocks. Plain and simple, Americans are being slaughtered, and Congress is refusing to stand up for them,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said during an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Monday.
But it didn’t appear the Republican-controlled chamber was interested.
“It’s hard to envision a foolproof way to prevent individual outrages by evil people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told CNN.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn (photo inset, left) told the network, “We need to know the answers before we know how to act.”
In her speech, Gillibrand said, “We should be fixing the holes in the system — whatever is necessary — not just shrugging our shoulders and saying there’s nothing that can be done.”
Gov. Cuomo — who like Gillibrand, has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2020 — also urged Congress to act. “Over and over and over, the federal Republicans offer their thoughts and prayers,” Cuomo said. “Thank you, but we have rabbis and priests and ministers and clerics who offer thoughts and prayers.