President Trump hailed the NYPD after the Midtown mass shooting as Democrats slammed lax gun laws for allowing the attacker to purchase the assault weapon used to kill four people including a police officer.
In between golf and meeting on his visit to Scotland, Trump praised the police for quickly ending the carnage and paid tribute to slain Officer Didarul Islam for trying to defend innocent victims inside the Park Ave. office building.
“My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “God Bless the New York Police Department, and God Bless New York.”
The president added that he believes law enforcement will “get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence.”
On Capitol Hill, Democrats also decried the shooting and praised the NYPD.
But they also called the bloodshed another prime example of why the nation needs stricter gun restrictions.
“The gun violence epidemic continues to afflict our country and now has shattered lives in our great city,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), the House minority leader. “The time has come for decisive action.”
“We must do more to stop gun violence in America,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York), the Senate Democratic leader.
The alleged shooter, Shane Tamura, was able to legally purchase the AR-15 assault weapon he used in the brazen attack in his home state of Nevada despite a documented history of mental health woes.
Gun violence advocates say common-sense restrictions like red flag laws barring criminals and mentally ill people from buying weapons could stem the violence from mass shootings in American workplaces and schools.
But Republicans insist tougher gun restrictions would not have prevented the attack, repeating a refrain they have used for decades.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) called for tougher police tactics, like a return to the much-maligned stop-and-frisk policies, to keep violent crime in check.
“We don’t need more gun control, we need more idiot control,” he said on Fox News.
Violent crime is generally down across the U.S., including mass shootings. But the U.S. still has far more such violent attacks than any other developed nation, bolstering the argument that the widespread availability of dangerous guns is the main reason for the bloodshed.
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