'Violence, hatred and evil': Trump condemns Florida school massacre as he says he'll visit the school - but makes NO mention of gun control and focuses on 'mental health'
- Trump addressed the nation in the wake of Wednesday's gun massacre at a Florida school but made no mention of guns or gun control
- He blamed 'the difficult issue of mental health' for a series of school shootings
- Consoler-in-chief said he will visit Parkland, Florida; his Mar-a-Lago resort club is just 40 miles away, and he's expected to be there all weekend
- 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and teachers at the Florida high school that once expelled him
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a sheriffs group on Thursday that 'we must confront this problem' because 'our hearts are hurting today'
- Florida Gov. Rick Scott said it's time 'to have a real conversation' about guaranteeing that 'individuals with mental illness don't touch guns'
- Democratic lawmakers and other progressives complained bitterly on Twitter that Trump never used words like 'gun,' 'firearm' or 'rifle'
Donald Trump on Thursday blamed 'the difficult issue of mental health' for a deadly massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida less than a day earlier.
The president made no mention of gun control, or of the AR-15 rifle that Nikolas Cruz used to mow down dozens of students and teachers, including at least 17 who lost their lives.
Cruz bought the firearm legally at a gun shop in February 2017.
'Yesterday a school filled with innocent children and caring teachers became the scene of terrible violence, hatred and evil,' he said underneath the portrait of George Washington in the White House's Diplomatic Reception room.
Playing the role of consoler-in-chief and speaking to 'a nation in grief,' a somber Trump said all Americans 'hurt for the entire community of Parkland, Florida that is now in shock and pain and searching for answers.'
The president also said he will visit that community soon – perhaps as soon as this coming weekend – and tried to calm the lingering anger and fear that has gripped the nation.
President Donald Trump addressed the nation in the wake of Wednesday's gun massacre at a Florida school but made no mention of guns or gun control
Trump spoke for 6-1/2 minutes and blamed 'the difficult issue of mental health' for a series of mass shootings
This video screen grab image shows shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz on February 15 at Broward County Jail in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The heavily armed teenager who gunned down students and adults at a Florida high school was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder
Medical personnel tended to a victim following a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018
This shocking picture was posted on Cruz's Instagram account, showing a collection of at least seven different firearms
Cruz's other social media postings include these photos of a bullet-riddled homemade target and a box of rifle ammunition
'I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you,' he said, quoting God himself in the 2nd book of Kings from the Hebrew Bible.
The president is scheduled to spend Saturday and Sunday at Mar-a-Lago, his private resort club that sits just 40 miles away from Parkland, in Palm Beach.
He ignored questions from an agitated pool of reporters, including one who yelled, 'Mr. President, why does this keep happening in America? Will you do something about guns?'
Lawmakers and activists erupted on Twitter when they realized that Trump hadn't used the words 'gun,' 'rifle,' weapon' or 'firearm' in his speech.
Democratic state Rep. Bob Lion of Connecticut, which saw the horrendous school shooting in the town of Newtown more than five years ago, tweeted: 'Trump’s comments on Parkland made NO mention of guns.'
'Donald Trump didn't have a single word for the 96 Americans killed by guns every day. 30,000-40,000 dead every year,' wrote U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat.
'No plan. No strategy. Not even a mention. Just the same thing we know to expect in response to gun violence: silence.'
Democratic lawmakers like Connecticut's Bob Lion and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer were outraged that Trump didn't talk about guns in his speech
Progressive activists like columnist Nicholas Kristof and immigration lawyer Gail Seeram suggested Trump is passing up an opportunity to talk about guns because the NRA contributes heavily to Republicans
Gail Seeram, an immigration attorney, tweeted that 'children must be 21 for legal access to alcohol – why are guns sold to 18 year old[s]?'
'Trump blames school safety & mental health for #FloridaSchoolShooting but no mention of SENSIBLE GUN CONTROL & money to Republicans by NRA to avoid sensible gun control,' she added.
The liberal New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof complained that Trump sometimes 'mentions the gunning down of Congressional baseball players. But no mention of tackling gun safety systematically.'
At the grassroots level, a Brooklynite who tweets under the handle 'Pass Me a Pickle' vented her spleen at the National Rifle Association.
'Trump says making children safer will be his administration's top priority. He didn't mention guns at all in this speech. Which means he's full of crap,' she wrote.
'Because we all know where his allegiance lies. #GunReformNow #NRAKills.'
Instead of calling for a national conversation about how to reconcile gun rights with public safety, Trump addressed the nation's children 'who feel alone, lost, confused or even scared.'
'I want you to know that you are never alone and you never will be. You have people who care about you, who love you, and will do anything at all to protect you.'
'If you need help,' he said, 'turn to a teacher, a family member, a local police office or a faith leader.'
'Answer hatred with love. Answer cruelty with kindness.'
The president tweeted his condolences – and this plea for people to tell law enforcement when they see dangerous behavior that might signal a future attack
Florida Gov. Rick Scott did mention firearms in his remarks at a press conference Thursday, saying alongside law enforcement leaders that it was time 'to have a real conversation about how do we make sure parents who know their children are safe, and that individuals with mental illness don't touch guns.'
'We need to have a real conversation so we have public safety in this state,' he said.
America's long-running debate about firearm ownership, which is legally permitted on a scale seen nowhere else in the world, may have taken a turn this week, at least with respect to the kind of weapon the murderous Cruz used on Wednesday.
His gun of choice, the AR-15, has been used in some of the nation's worst mass-shootings.
Killers wielding AR-15 and AR-15 style weapons committed mass murder in Las Vegas, Nevada; Newtown, Connecticut; Aurora, Colorado; Orlando, Florida; San Bernardino, California; and Sutherland Springs, Texas.
On Thursday Piers Morgan a DailyMail.com editor-at-large, tweeted his anger at 'gun nuts' from the National Rifle Association for protecting ownership of the semi-automatic rifles whose visual style resembles military assault weapons.
Politicians and celebrities were quick to express outrage over the fact that another AR-15 was used in a mass shooting
And Democratic politicians were quick to find fault.
'My bill to ban assault weapons is ready for a vote. How long will we accept weapons of war being used to slaughter our children?' asked California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Trump earlier tweeted his condolences, his pledge to assist Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and his frustration with 'neighbors and classmates' of Cruz who failed to alert authorities about the 19-year-old's erratic and foreboding behavior.
'No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school,' the president wrote barely more than an hour after the massacre.
In a more pointed message 15 hours later, Trump tweeted that there were '[s]o many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior.'
'Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!'
Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged on Thursday to do more to help American communities to prevent gun violence.
The president's Mar-a-Lago resort club is just 40 miles away from the scene of the massacre, and he's expected to be there all weekend, so he announced Thursday that he will visit the town of Parkland, Florida
'It cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening, and we are once again, watching the images of our children – terrified – streaming from their school with their hands above their heads,' Sessions told the Major County Sheriffs Association.
'When parents, once again, go to sleep in fear that their kids will not be safe when they leave for their school bus in the morning. We must confront this problem,' he declared.
He also told the sheriffs to encourage their communities to be on the lookout for tell-tale signs of future school shootings.
'It is too often the case that the perpetrators of these terrible attacks had given of signals in advance. You are experienced professionals. You and I know that we cannot arrest everybody that somebody thinks is dangerous. But I think we can and must do better,' he said.
'We owe it to every one of those kids crying outside their school yesterday and all those who never made it out. Our hearts are hurting today.'
Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged on Thursday to do more to help American communities to prevent gun violence
South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, who is not running for re-election, told a Fox news Channel audience Thursday morning that 'I don't know anyone who would not pass a bill today that would prevent the next mass shooting.'
But first 'you have to find out how he accessed the gun.'
'You got to find out whether there was a data point at some point in his background where someone could have reported it. Whether or not he accessed the gun legally or illegally,' Gowdy cautioned.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees Americans the 'right to bear arms,' but courts have ruled that governments can restrict that right when genuine and emergent public safety concerns can be shown to take priority.
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