In response to the recent series of public shootings, President Trump has said he supports opening more institutions according to a report:
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the US should build more mental institutions to deal with mass shooters.
“We’re going to be looking at that very closely and we’re looking at the whole gun situation. I do want people to remember the words mental illness. These people are mentally ill and nobody talks about that, but these are mentally ill people. And people have to start thinking about it,” Trump said ahead of his campaign rally in New Hampshire.
“I think we have to start building institutions again because you know, if you look at the ’60s and the ’70s, so many of these institutions were closed, and the people were just allowed to go onto the streets. And that was a terrible thing for our country. … A lot of our conversation has to do with the fact that we have to open up institutions. We can’t let these people be on the streets,” he added.
Trump’s comments come less than two weeks after back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed dozens. The suggestions also come a day after a man shot six police officers when he barricaded himself for several hours in his Philadelphia home, where police were attempting to come in with a narcotics warrant.
The emphasis on mental illness — an approach favored by pro-gun groups — marked a slight change from earlier this week. On Tuesday, he claimed that many Republicans support his push for strengthening background checks on gun sales — a view that appears at odds with what lawmakers are telling the President in private.
Trump has said he believes he needs to take a concrete step on gun control, rather than a symbolic one. He’s been encouraged by some aides, including daughter Ivanka, to press on background checks.
But others — including those with more experience dealing with Washington Republicans — have appeared skeptical.
There isn’t evidence yet that Trump is wielding an aggressive arm-twisting campaign for a specific piece of legislation as the Senate continues its extended vacation. And an ever-nearing reelection campaign, when support from a gun-loving base will be essential, is likely to weigh on Trump’s thinking.
Trump said later Thursday he has been speaking with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about background checks legislation.
“I’ve been speaking to everybody about it and we don’t want to see crazy people owning guns, but I also want to remember that mental illness is something nobody wants to talk about,” he said. “These people are mentally ill and we need to study that also.”
“The gun doesn’t pull the trigger. They pulled the trigger,” he added.
He said he’s been speaking to “many Republicans” about the legislation.
“They want to see something happen … it’s very simple. They don’t want to have insane people, dangerous people, really bad people having guns. Republicans agree with me on that … pretty much uniformly,” he said.
Trump said he fears Democrats would try to add to the legislation in an unrealistic way, stopping the bill in its tracks.
He wouldn’t say whether he supports universal background checks when asked, saying instead, “I support strong, meaningful background checks.” (source, source)
This is an interesting response because under law, federal and then additional ones varying by state, going into a mental hospital of any type many times results in the permanent loss of one’s rights, including gun rights but also voting and others.
Is the situation with “gun violence” being used to advance the further evisceration of what “rights” the citizenry have left in the name of “mental health?”
It certainly is possible and should not be ignored. Likewise, given Trump’s record for the last three years, he has shown himself to be at best inconsistent and unfortunately, completely willing to sacrifice major promises he made to satisfy not only the current plans of the owners in finance and industry who direct the government, but also to temporarily satisfy the insatiable and ever-changing requests of the well-documented Israeli lobby that exerts disproportionate influence over US domestic and foreign policy.
Saying that gun violence needs “mental health” for an answer could also be a way of hoping to placate his already well-eroded base in order to get what is left of them to support him for a second term.
If Trump is elected for a second term, which there is a high likelihood that he will, then Trump will likely become very “anti-gun,” probably to the great anger of many people. This should be expected, as in spite of Trump’s big talk and promises, he has done the opposite. For all of the criticism that was given to Obama, he did far more to secure gun rights, while Trump advertised himself as a defender of gun rights but then took them away.
Does anybody expect that Trump is going to act in the opposite way?
Trump said he needed a chance, and he was given a fair chance. He has shown himself to be not a man to “drain the swamp,” but to fill “the swamp” up higher than what it ever was before, and then says that it is not his fault.
“Mental heath,” regardless of the reason it is used here about “gun violence” is likely a cover in any case for a nefarious agenda whose purpose is not to help people, but to use the force of law as a battering ram to silence political dissident and further destroy the few rights that the citizens have left.