WASHINGTON – Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera said he’s “extremely impressed” with President Trump’s response to the mass shooting in Florida and predicted Trump is going to do more than President Obama “ever did” on gun control measures.
“There is no satisfactory response, but I’m extremely impressed by the president of the United States – and he’s the one that counts, as far as I’m concerned,” Rivera told PJ Media at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.
“You’ll see a full-throated response, enhanced background checks. If you are on the no-fly list, you are not going to get a gun license. And I think he’s going to advocate raising the age from 18 to 21 and I’ll be happy, which is more than President Obama ever did,” he added.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was asked if he supports raising the legal age for the purchase of certain guns to 21.
“I think there might be some legitimacy to that. I’ll follow the president’s lead there. All I know is I didn’t buy my AR-15 until I was 22 or 23 but, look, you’ve got to be careful. When you start limiting freedom, you’re going to go down a road that you might regret,” he said during an interview at CPAC.
Kirk called the survivors of the Valentine’s Day attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., “American heroes” who have a right to protest gun policies.
“I’m a big fan of American activism, and that’s what’s beautiful about our country is they can go out and express their viewpoint. Obviously, I don’t agree with all the policy prescriptions that are being put forth, but that’s part of what makes democracy fun,” he said.
Kirk, an NRA member, said the federal government should examine why local, state and federal authorities missed warning signs about the shooter’s behavior.
“The FBI didn’t do their job. The local police didn’t do their job. I mean, it’s horrendous. It’s not just a gun issue. I’m not in favor of gun control,” he said. “I would try to get us out of this archaic system that we have to purchase weaponry in this country. I think it’s stupid. I mean I don’t want psychopaths to have guns, like, that’s a problem.”
Kayleigh McEnany, national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, applauded Trump’s “pragmatic approach” to the mass shooting.
“I love what President Trump has done. For the first time in really, ever, we saw a common-sense, candid, raw, emotional conversation on this issue in the White House and I’m very proud of that listening session and what he put together in giving those parents a right to speech. He has a well-measured, pragmatic approach to this and I couldn’t be more proud of this administration,” she said.
McEnany told PJM she agrees with Trump that the age to purchase semi-automatic firearms should be raised to 21 years.
“Of course, we stand with the president on everything,” she said at CPAC.
Kirk said the tragedy in Florida could have been prevented because “this guy was a known crazy person.”
According to a new report, “Broward County deputies received at least 18 calls warning them about Nikolas Cruz from 2008 to 2017, including concerns that he ‘planned to shoot up the school’ and other threats and acts of violence before he was accused of killing 17 people at a high school.” Also, a person close to Cruz warned the FBI that she wanted a “clear conscience if he takes off and, and just starts shooting places up.”
“I don’t know what it looks, like but something needs to be done,” Kirk said. “DCFS and the FBI should have flagged him and they should have confiscated his weaponry – that’s what should have happened, period, with due process. It shouldn’t have been done unconstitutionally,” Kirk said.
Kirk suggested changes to the current background check system so certain “red flags” would allow local law enforcement to confiscate someone’s weapons if they pose a public safety risk.
“How about a list of people who are on hallucinogens and on oxycontin that are trying to purchase egregious amounts of weaponry?” he said. “That doesn’t apply to me so I don’t think it violates my freedoms and liberties, but when you have a 19-year-old with both his parents dead that is taking copious amounts of medication, seeing a psychologist regularly, has tips against him with the FBI, all they have to have is some form of an artificial intelligence capacity and a machine that will say ‘red flag, go visit this guy’ and you look in his eyes and ‘this guy is going to shoot up a school.’ You look at him – he’s a crazy person. Take his weapons away.”
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