A shaken Sen. Rob Portman on Tuesday spoke out against white nationalism and expressed support for red flag laws, following horrific mass shootings over the weekend in Texas and his home state of Ohio.
Portman's endorsement of limited gun control comes one day after President Donald Trump called for such laws, which allow police and family members to block access to firearms for people who are an imminent threat to others or themselves. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday he would introduce legislation to encourage more states to adopt red flag laws.
In an interview with reporters Tuesday, Portman said that red flag laws could bridge gun safety issues with mental health.
"I think there's more we can do legislatively," Portman said. "Some of the legislative ideas may not make a difference. This one would I think if you could come up with a way to remove a gun from somebody's possession."
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Monday also vowed to renew efforts to pass legislation with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) that would expand background checks following a tweet from Trump calling for similar legislation, though the president didn't follow up on the call during a televised address several hours later. The Manchin-Toomey proposal failed in 2013 and 2015 and has little Republican support.
Portman, who voted against Manchin-Toomey, said that Congress "should look at everything," when asked about the legislation. Like Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Portman said he hoped that the latest tragedies would motivate Democrats and Republicans to work together on legislation.
Democrats, however, have said red flag laws are not enough and have called on the Senate to pass legislation from the Democratic-controlled House that would establish universal background checks. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-.N.Y.) is holding an event Tuesday with Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) at a Walmart in Westbury, N.Y. to call on McConnell to bring up the House bill.
The two shootings over the weekend in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas left at least 31 people dead. The alleged shooter in the El Paso massacre is suspected of posting a manifesto on the online message board 8chan before the killings that expressed hatred toward Latinos and immigrants.
The Ohio Republican also said that more needed to be done to understand the root cause of the shootings, including examining the online communications of the shooters.
"We all need to stand up against the bigotry and the hatred and the white nationalism," Portman said. "There are certain things you can do on the legal side with regard to guns but there's a deeper problem here. Why are these people living in their own universe where they become so hateful and violent that they would commit these unspeakable acts."
No comments:
Post a Comment