Watch: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Repeatedly Says ‘Now Is Not The Time To Talk About Gun Control’

The day after the mass shooting in Lafayette, Gov. Bobby Jindal tells reporters it’s time to pray and grieve, not talk about gun control.

Despite the fact that John Russel Houser had a long history of mental illness and arrests but was able to legally purchase a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun at a pawn shop, Governor Bobby Jindal repeatedly told reporters he would not talk about gun control.

Asked what, “as a leader” he would support to make it tougher for people with mental illness to gain access to guns, Gov. Jindal said, “there’s a right time and place to have that conversation,” but lambasted reporters at the late Friday afternoon press conference outside the crime scene, saying, “we’re less than 24 hours out.”

He pointed to the families of the dead “that need to bury their loved ones,” and other families “praying for” the full recoveries of loved ones in the hospital.

Jindal insisted that “now is the time to focus on those victims.”

The 2016 presidential candidate had announced he was suspending his political campaign in the wake of the mass shooting that left three dead, including the gunman, and nine others wounded. 

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“There will be an absolute appropriate time for us to talk about policies and politics, and I’m sure folks will want to score political points off this tragedy as they’ve tried to do off previous tragedies,” Jindal chastised. “Let’s focus on these families.”

Not satisfied, a reporter pressed, “You want to be the leader of not only the United States but of the free world. What would you do different to stop these things from happening all over the country?”

Jindal, defiant, was steadfast.

“I’m happy to talk about this but not here, not now. Now is the time to grieve, mourn, come together and show Lafayette’s resilient and we can get through this,” the two-term Louisiana governor insisted. “I’m not shy of providing my opinions on any topic, but right now let’s actually focus.”

“My answer is not changing,” Jindal continued. “Now is not the right time. Let us mourn. You can ask me all you want in a couple of days.”

After the tragic shooting in Charleston just five weeks ago, Jindal had the same response but also blasted President Obama for saying, “Now is the time for mourning and for healing. But let’s be clear. At some point, we as a country will have to reconcile with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It is in our power to do something about it.”

Watch Gov. Jindal:

Some responses via Twitter: