A sheriff in Texas has come under fire after he linked the bombing of a concert in Manchester, England to the country's tough gun laws.
Following the Monday night attack that killed 22 people, Denton County Sheriff Tracy Murphree lashed out in a Facebook post.
"This is what happens when you disarm your citizens," he wrote. "When you open your borders without the proper vetting. When you allow political correctness to dictate how you respond to an enemy that wants to kill you."
"The left tells us we must submit and accept these radical beliefs and bend over backwards to make sure we don't hurt anybody's feelings," the rant continued. "The left wants to cater to the very group that would kill every group they claim to support. Folks this is an enemy hell bent on killing you. Committed to forcing you to convert or die."
"I'm sick of it. You better wake up America. While you are distracted by the media and the crying of the left, Islamic Jihadist are among us and want to kill you."
Murphree defended his comments this week during an interview with WFAA.
"If we don't defend this country, if we don't take steps now to ensure our safety, there are folks, there are terrorists who want to kill us," the sheriff insisted.
Murphree also received criticism last year after he suggested that he would beat a transgender woman if she tried to use the women's bathroom.
"I'm not going to be politically correct," he told WFAA on Tuesday. "I'm going to tell you what I believe is true. And yeah, as an American citizen, I do have a right to weigh in on national policy."
Americans for Responsible Solutions policy adviser David Chipman, a former ATF agent, argued that Murphree was wrong to assume that more guns would have stopped the bombing in Manchester.
"In fact, the opposite is true: America has higher rates of homicide than the U.K. and here in the United States, two-thirds of homicides involve firearms," Chipman said in a statement. "The facts speak for themselves: when guns are more accessible by dangerous people, there are higher rates of gun homicide and homicide overall."
“Rather than send more people who pose a threat to our communities into our neighborhoods with weapons of war, we should focus on giving local law enforcement the resources they need and arming them with laws and policies that are proven to stop terror attacks, prevent violence and keep Americans safe.”
Watch the video report below from WFAA.
