WATCH: Trump Says ‘It’s a Little Bit Soon’ to Talk About Gun Control After 26 Texans Massacred in Church
‘We Have a Lot of Mental Health Problems in Our Country, as Do Other Countries, but This Isn’t a Guns Situation’ Trump Says
After 26 Texans aged 5 to 72 were slaughtered in the state’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history, President Donald Trump told reporters “it’s a little bit soon” to talk about gun control. A 26-year old white male reportedly discharged from the military for domestic violence massacred worshippers at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs late Sunday morning. The mass shooting becomes the nation’s deadliest in a house of worship. It comes just 35 days after the deadliest mass shooting in the nation’s history, in Las Vegas, which left 58 people dead and 546 people injured.
“This isn’t a guns situation,†President Trump said, as The Hill reports. “This is a mental health problem at the highest level. It’s a very, very sad event.â€
Trump called the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, a “very deranged individual.†He also asked who would ever think a thing like that could happen?
“I think that mental health is your problem here,†Trump told reporters while speaking in Tokyo. “This was a very — based on preliminary reports — a very deranged individual. A lot of problems over a long period of time.â€
In fact, little is known about the shooter, other than his military history and history of domestic violence. A history of domestic violence is a common factor among many mass shooters.
“Fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposition direction,†Trump also said. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been as bad as it was, it would have been much worse.â€
It’s actually not known if the shooter died from self-inflicted wounds or wounds inflicted by an armed man who reportedly chased him.
“We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries, but this isn’t a guns situation,†Trump insisted.
RELATED: ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ Pour Out to Sutherland Springs, Site of America’s Latest Mass Shooting
America has 89 guns for every 100 people. No other high-income country country has the number of guns, per capita, that America does, and no other high-income country has the rate of gun violence that America does, as CNN proved last month.Â
“This is a mental health problem at the highest level, it’s a very, very sad event,â€Â Trump said.
President Trump has repeatedly advocated for GOP health care legislation that would eliminate access to mental health care for tens of millions of Americans. He also signed legislation earlier this year making it easier for severely mentally impaired Americans to buy guns.
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