US President Donald Trump said he has “done much more” than most of his predecessors to combat gun violence, but added that even more needs to be done, promising to make an official statement Monday.
With the Democrat-driven push for stricter gun laws reinforced by the recent mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, which claimed a total of 29 lives in less than a day, Trump defended his administration’s record on gun violence and complained that he’s not given the credit he is due. At the same time, he hinted that new measures may be coming on Monday.
Also on rt.com American gun laws: Why the issues are not as clear-cut as they first appear“We have done much more than most administrations and that’s just not really talked about very much but we’ve done actually a lot but perhaps more has to be done,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One on Sunday.
Standing alongside his wife Melania, Trump said he had spoken to Attorney General William Barr, FBI Director Christopher Wray, congressmen and the governors of both Texas and Ohio in the aftermath of the massacres. The debate over gun control is a highly partisan issue in the US, and Republicans and Democrats have found little to no common ground in recent years.
“We’ve been talking to a lot of people. And a lot of things are in the works. A lot of good things are in the works,” Trump said, adding that he would make a statement at 10:00am Monday.
The president gave little indication as to what “good things” he was referring to, speaking in vague terms about the pressing need to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future.
This has been going on for years, for years and years in our country and we have to get it stopped.
At least one of the shootings – the Saturday morning rampage in a Walmart in El Paso – is alleged to have been a hate crime. Police are now trying to ascertain if the four-page manifesto attributed to the 21-year-old gunman, accusing Hispanics of “invading” Texas, was actually penned by the attacker, who is now in custody.
“Hate has no place in our country. And we’re going to take care of this,” Trump said, apparently addressing the speculation surrounding the shooter’s motive. At the same time, he appeared to blame mental illness for both incidents, an argument routinely invoked by conservatives in the wake of mass shootings.
Also on rt.com Thoughts, prayers & political agenda: Response to El Paso shooting on left & right“But that’s also a mental illness problem. If you look at both of these cases, this is mental illness… these are people that are very seriously mentally ill.”
Trump’s remark echoed Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), who earlier blamed mental illness for the El Paso rampage, while calling on every state to enact the Extreme Risk Protection Orders, commonly known as ‘Red Flag’ laws, aimed at detecting individuals showing signs of mental distress and preventing them from obtaining weapons.
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