More details are coming to light about the life of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz and what might have driven him to allegedly unleash a rampage that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14.
President Donald Trump reportedly mocked media on Monday for failing to find out that he had lunch with the head of the National Rifle Association just days after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
According to AP correspondent Zeke Miller, Trump revealed the meeting while speaking to Republican governors on Monday.
At the same event with Republican governors, Trump suggested that he could have stopped the shooter who killed 17 in Parkland, Florida even if he did not have a gun.
"I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon and I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too," the president opined.
One Virginia Congressman with an "A" rating from the NRA refused to answer why he doesn't support universal background checks for all guns or gun registration.
During an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA) was asked over and over why he didn't support background checks or gun registration. Over and over he refused to say. Oddly enough, he touted his legislation with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) that would require the military to update their records for background checks.
"I do not think that you're going to be able to enforce that as right now we can't enforce all the laws," Taylor said. "I don't think you can do it. I have an issue with it. I'm not supporting it right now. That answers your question."
Cuomo noted that there are many laws that are in place that are difficult to enforce and the judicial branch has managed to find ways. Taylor followed by saying he was "respectful" of Cuomo's position but the host cut in to say his opinion didn't matter.
"Why would you only have certain sales effected by background checks?" Cuomo asked. "I don't get why that's a good thing. It's hard to enforce. That's not a standard of whether or not you put the law in place. You put it in place and then you figure out how to enforce it."
When prompted why he didn't support universal background checks all Taylor would do is repeat his stance that he opposes it. When asked again why he opposes it, Taylor simply restated his position.
"But why don't you support it?" Cuomo asked.
"I don't support universal background checks," was all Taylor could come up with. "I don't support you coming and me having to have a sale if it's paperwork and stuff like that if I'm giving my gun to my son. I just don't agree with that."
The father, or owner of the gun, shouldn't have to deal with bureaucracy before giving it to his own child, was Taylor's argument. Cuomo argued if a father wanted to sell his son a boat or even a car that boat or car must also be "paperwork" as it is registered under the child's name.
At one point, Taylor argued against background checks at gun shows saying Americans don't want "knee-jerk reactions" to mass shootings, but mass shootings are nothing new and the call for gun regulation in wake of those tragedies is also not new.
Watch the interview below:
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday refused to reveal why four Broward County deputies reportedly failed to confront a shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
While speaking to Fox & Friends, Bondi explained that Gov. Rick Scott had called for a "full investigation" of Sheriff Scott Israel and the Broward County Sheriff's Department.
"I know a lot more than you all do now so all I'm going to say is, yes, I believe there needs to be a full investigation," she said. "I don't think some people were honest and we're going to investigate this situation in Florida and the right thing will be done."
"Was there a stand down order?" Fox News host Steve Doocy wondered.
"I can't talk about that," Bondi replied.
"That would explain why the [deputies] didn't go inside," Doocy noted.
Bondi later suggested that some of members of the Broward sheriff's department "weren't honest with me, nor were they honest with the governor."
"Why wouldn't they be honest," co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked.
"Well, if they were there and didn't want people to know they were there, that could have been it," Bondi revealed. "But I'm not going to discuss farther."
Watch the video below from Fox News.
During a discussion about the solutions in wake of the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) argued that laws are already in place to keep guns away from the mentally ill. CNN host Chris Cuomo had to fact-check the senator with an A+ rating from the NRA in real time.
During a Sunday discussion about mass shootings, Santorum argued that the problem is that "fatherlessness" is an epidemic that contribute to the mass shootings. On Monday, Cuomo took issue with it.
"The fact that you have culture issues at play in a lot of different facets of behavior in our country," Cuomo began. "But if you look at places around the globe, the only metric that distinguishes the United States is the ease of access of guns and the number of guns. Whether it's mental health or the family unit, the nuclear unit, the only metric that matters are the guns and who gets them. How can that be the priority?"
Santorum conceded that no one wants to put guns in the hands of the mentally ill.
"Then why haven't the laws changed?" Cuomo cut in to ask.
"The laws have changed," Santorum said, incorrectly.
"How have the laws changed?" Cuomo asked. "None of that stuff is captured. You have to be adjudicated mentally ill. You know all of this stuff. There's a whole universe of possibilities of behavior that is not captured by the current system."
Santorum cited Connecticut's laws but Cuomo noted that law was a state law. If one state doesn't allow guns for the mentally ill, someone can go to another state to purchase the weapon legally and bring it back into the state that outlaws it. On the federal level, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that barred mentally ill people from having access to guns. One of President Donald Trump's first executive orders was to override that order.
Santorum went on to say that "guns save a lot of lives in this country." He blamed gun-free zones, saying schools are a big waving flag indicating that anyone with guns can attack it and not be faced with any opposition.
Cuomo noted that it isn't accurate as school shootings are a very small percentage of the mass shootings and shootings in general. Similarly, this school did have a gun in it with the deputies and the resources officer that were at the school while the shooting was still going on. As a fact check, both Santorum's previous office in the Senate and the White House are gun-free zones that have ample security. It hasn't stopped people from shooting at the White House, ramming their car into barriers or jumping the fence of the White House with weapons.
Watch Santorum go down in flames below:
By Arash Javanbakht, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School visiting the Florida Legislature Feb. 21, 2018 to discuss gun control and mental illness. AP Photo/Gerald Strong Every time the country is shaken by a tragic mass shooting and the loss of innocent lives, the same debates are repeated.…
Radio host Larry King recently offered up a few candid thoughts about the National Rifle Association. Following the fatal Valentine’s Day shooting of 17 students and faculty members at a Florida high school, the NRA has faced mounting pressure and criticisms from many sources.
After the fatal shooting of her fellow classmates, Emma González rose as a voice in support of stronger gun legislation. Since becoming the face of a movement, she’s surpassed the National Rifle Association in at least one area.
As the nation is roiled by debates over gun control inspired by the Parkland massacre, a Florida gun show held over the weekend had "lines out the door" and "strong sales," according to a New York Times report.
Thousands showed up for a show at the state fairgrounds in Tampa, where they bought guns, ammunition and t-shirts bearing pro-gun slogans. There were Girl Scouts selling cookies outside the show.
According to the Times, some sellers said they did double their normal sales figures.
“It’s sad to say, but whenever there’s a shooting, business only goes up because people are afraid of losing their right to own a certain weapon,” said salesman Quaidman Woody. “So even if they don’t need another AR, they’ll buy another AR or pieces of it.”
AR-15s were being sold at the show by people including Robert Ellie, who custom-makes the weapons at his shop in Fort Myers. Ellie said he uses the semi-automatic war rifle to hunt "wild boars."
"We’ve had the Second Amendment for more than 200 years, but mass shootings are only a recent phenomenon," he told the Tampa Bay Times.
Ironically, the show itself had strict gun control measures. There was two-gun limit for anyone wanting to bring their firearm into the show. Any guns carried in had to have their triggers zip-tied. And it was a no-carry zone, even for licensed concealed carry permit holders who were forced to disarm, leaving their ammunition at home or in their cars.
"MAKE SURE YOUR GUNS ARE UNLOADED AND THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY LOOSE AMMUNITION WITH YOU," the site says. "Safety is our number one priority and can only be maintained if there are NO loaded guns in the show."
Oklahoma Republicans are ready to solve the school shootings—with Jesus and by eliminating violent video games.
"The first thing everybody wants to talk about is gun control," said Rep. Markwayne Mullin.
Instead, Mullin said it was important to look at "the whole situation."
Mullin—the owner of a successful plumbing business, who did not serve in the armed forces or in law enforcement—approaches the problem of school shootings "based experiences I've had in my life."
After the shooting, Mullin had an epiphany upon discovering that his two teenage boys played the first-person shooting game Call of Duty, which is set in World War II.
“I walked upstairs not too long ago. My two boys were playing Call of Duty with my brother-in-law and I looked at it for about three minutes and my palms were sweaty... the graphics are so real that that can't be good. I made them turn it off and they've never gotten to play it since,” said Mullin in a Facebook video made after the Parkland shooting.
"Hollywood elites they always want to go on about gun control, gun control, gun control, they're making millions and billions off exposing our kids, this generation, to violence and glorifying it," he said. "Games that are supposed to be entertainment are desensitizing out kids to the violence, what it's really like."
Fellow Oklahoma Republican Rep. Steve Russell of Oklahoma City, sent out a newsletter after the Florida high school shooting, which said that "we cannot get to a solution simply by going after the tools."
Russell, who owns a rifle manufacturing company, also used the same talking point: Hollywood liberals are to blame for school shootings, because of video games
“It means Hollywood not getting a pass to condemn such acts while perpetuating such behavior on the screen," he wrote. "It means our video gaming industry admitting that they may have a role in altering mental abhorrence to violence and the harming of innocents."
Russell also thinks that bringing Jesus into the classroom can help.
The solution, he wrote: "means our educators being willing to admit that resistance to our Judeo-Christian ethic in teaching respect and morality in the classroom has created untethered generations who struggle to identify what is right and wrong."
Shadi Petosky, creator of the Danger & Eggs animated series, slammed Amazon over the weekend for forcing her to curb her use of liberal talking points but refuse to take NRA TV off the air.
In a tweet on Sunday, Petosky revealed that Amazon had pressured her into deleting tweets supporting feminst ideals when she was creating her show.
She later explained that Amazon had compared feminism to "someone posting pro Trump messages."
Apple, Amazon and Roku have recently come under fire for carrying NRA TV on streaming devices even though the organization opposes any new gun safety regulations that could curb school shootings.
The AR-15, the semiautomatic rifle used in Parkland, Fla., in the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, uses bullets that can cause softball-size exit wounds, leaving behind a significantly larger trail of mangled tissue compared with handgun bullets.
MIAMI — He was chronically depressed, beguiled by firearms and violence, an oddball ostracized by peers and prone to angry outbursts. He experienced, in rapid succession, blows of the sort that can send a disturbed, isolated young man hurtling into a spiral of instability: Forced to move out of his lifelong home, spurned by a girlfriend, bounced from school to school, then suddenly losing his mother, his closest companion, to a fatal illness.
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