Head of NRA affiliate dismisses Vegas massacre: Gun laws don’t matter ‘when someone has that kind of mentality'

The head of Nevada's NRA affiliate insisted no laws could have stopped a gunman from killing scores and wounding hundreds of concertgoers in Las Vegas.

Don Turner, president of the Nevada Firearms Coalition, learned about the deadly mass shooting Monday about 7 a.m. Las Vegas time when a reporter from Vice News called him to comment on the state's gun laws.

“The only restriction on magazine capacity in Nevada is how strong you are,” Turner told the reporter, who realized the official wasn't aware that 58 people had been killed just hours earlier by gunfire during a country music event.

The reporter then told Turner, who reacted by cautioning against a rush to restrict firearms ownership.

“When someone has that kind of mentality, it doesn’t matter what kind of laws you have,” Turner said. “In the emotion of the moment, there’s a tendency to push anti-gun agendas. We need to find out what really happened.”

Turner commented on the shootings before the NRA issued any sort of statement.

“NFC is deeply saddened by what happened," Turner told Vice News. "It’s not a reflection of the majority of gun owners in Nevada. NFC gun owners are dedicated to responsible and safe use of firearms. This is a tragedy.”