Former US President Donald Trump said the Texas school massacre is not a reason for tightened gun controls as Americans should be allowed firearms to defend against “evil.”
rump headlined a National Rifle Association (NRA) event in Houston three days after the massacre which killed 19 students and two teachers.
Speaking at the event, Trump said: “The existence of evil in our world is not a reason to disarm law-abiding citizens… The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens.”
He added that tighter gun laws would not have prevented “the horror” from happening at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday.
An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults with a legally bought AR-15-style rifle.
It is the deadliest school shooting in the state’s history.
“The various gun control policies being pushed by the left would have done nothing to prevent the horror that took place. Absolutely nothing,” Trump said.
He then read out the names of all 19 children, and said they were victims of an out-of-control “lunatic”, adding that efforts at gun control were “grotesque”.
“All of us must unite, Republican and Democrat – in every state, and at every level of government – to finally harden our schools and protect our children… What we need now is a top-to-bottom security overhaul at schools across this country,” the former president said.
He added that the country needs to make it far easier to “confine the violent and mentally deranged into mental institutions.”
He said every school should have a single point of entry, strong fencing, metal detectors and there should also be a police official or an armed guard at all times in every school.
Referring to Washington’s financial and military support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, Trump said: “This is not a matter of money. This is a matter of will. If the United States has $40 billion to send to Ukraine, we can do this.”
The former US president also called for eliminating gun-free school zones, adding that such zones leave victims with no means to defend themselves in case of an attack by an armed person.
“As the age-old saying goes, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Trump added.
“The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens.”
It is estimated that about 1,800 attended Trump’s speech in the main auditorium in Houston, as video images showed the 3,600 capacity hall was about half-full.
Outside of the venue around 500 people protested as they called for tighter gun control.
Multiple speakers, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, pulled out of the convention following the murders.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 214 mass shooting this year in the United States.
This includes a massacre at a supermarket in the black neighbourhood of Buffalo, New York, which killed 10 people just 10 days before the horrific school shooting.
President Joe Biden is due to visit Uvalde tomorrow with first lady Jill Biden to “grieve with the community”, White House official have said.