President Trump delivered his first public remarks Monday morning on the mass shootings that took place over the weekend in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, calling on the nation to come together to “condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy.”
“We vow to act with urgent resolve,” he said, before laying out a series of priorities meant to reduce gun violence.
He wants the Department of Justice to work with local authorities and social-media companies “to develop tools to detect mass shooters before they strike.”
He wants to “stop or substantially reduce” the amount of violence in video games.
He wants to “reform mental health” laws so that it’s easier to confine people deemed dangerous. Trump made it clear that he won’t support any restrictions on the weapons that are used in massacres like the ones over the weekend, saying that “mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger — not the gun.”
He wants to see the passage of “red-flag laws,” which allow courts to take away someone’s guns if they’re ruled a threat to public safety.
He wants to expand the death penalty and reduce the appeals available to people sentenced to death.
Trump ended his comments by asking that “God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo.” Sunday’s mass shooting was in Dayton.
