President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House January 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump met with Republican members of the Senate to discuss immigration.
- The National Rifle Association released a statement on Monday backing President Donald Trump's call to focus on mental illness as a cause of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, that killed 30 people over the weekend.
- In the statement, the NRA said they welcomed "the president's call to address the root causes of the horrific acts of violence that have occurred in our country."
- It continues: "It has been the NRA's longstanding position that those who have been adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others should not have access to firearms and should be admitted to treatment."
- The statement, which avoids using the term "mental illness," echoes the language Trump used in his White House address early Monday.
- Trump blamed "gruesome video games" and "mentally ill monsters" for the violence that occurred over the weekend - despite research concluding there is no link between both violent video games and mental illness as a cause of gun violence.
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The National Rifle Association released a statement on Monday backing President Donald Trump's call to focus on mental illness as a cause of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, that killed 30 people over the weekend.
In the statement, the NRA said they welcomed "the president's call to address the root causes of the horrific acts of violence that have occurred in our country."
It continues: "It has been the NRA's longstanding position that those who have been adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others should not have access to firearms and should be admitted to treatment."
The statement, though it avoids using the term "mental illness," echoes the language Trump used in his White House address early Monday. He blamed "gruesome video games" and "mentally ill monsters" for the horrendous violence that occurred over the weekend - despite research concluding there is no link between video games and mental illness as a cause of gun violence. Trump didn't call for specific gun reforms.
In stark contrast, former President Barack Obama broke his post-presidential silence and issued a rare statement calling for action to reduce gun violence. "Every time this happens, we're told that tougher gun laws won't stop all murders ... but the evidence shows that we can stop some killings," Obama said.
The NRA released another statement on Sunday after the mass shootings, saying while they were committed to "the safe and lawful use of firearms," they wouldn't participate "in the politicizing of these tragedies."