Top Republicans say there shouldn't be 'knee-jerk' political response to Florida school shooting
- Following the shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 dead, top Republican members of Congress cautioned against swift political reactions.
- House Speaker Paul Ryan warned against "knee-jerk" political reactions to the tragedy.
- Sen. Ted Cruz said Democrats were trying to "politicize" the shooting by talking about gun control measures.
Top Republican members of Congress on Thursday urged caution on potential "knee-jerk" political reactions to the shooting at a Florida high school on Wednesday that left 17 dead and more than a dozen others injured.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told a local Wisconsin radio station that lawmakers should wait for details before making statements about possible policy responses to the shooting.
"It's just a horrific, horrific, horrible shooting," Ryan said. "I think we need to pray, and our hearts go out to these victims. And I think, as public policymakers, we don't just knee jerk before we even have all the facts and the data."
Democratic lawmakers and advocates of stricter controls on guns pointed to the tragedy as another reason for legislation strengthening restrictions. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut immediately took to the floor of the Senate on Wednesday and urged his colleagues to do something to stem a rising tide of gun violence, particularly in schools.
"This happens nowhere else other than the United States of America," said Murphy, who previously represented the district that included Sandy Hook Elementary School. "This epidemic of mass slaughter - this scourge of school shooting after school shooting. It only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of our inaction."
Republicans urged more caution, saying the shooting was not a reason to make changes to existing gun laws.
Sen. Ted Cruz said during an appearance on "Fox and Friends" that Democrats were attempting to "politicize" the tragedy.
"They immediately starts calling that we've got to take away the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens, that's not the right answer," Cruz said.
Ryan similarly said that the conversation about the Florida shooting shouldn't become a discussion about gun control.
"I don't think that means you then roll the conversation into taking away citizen's rights, taking away a law-abiding citizen's rights," Ryan said. "And so obviously, this conversation typically goes there."