Democrats want Trump to take action on gun laws

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Area Democrats called on President Donald Trump to take action and not just talk about seeking bipartisan cooperation to strengthen gun laws in response to the weekend mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso, Texas.

On Monday, Trump, a Republican, said he wanted “strong” background checks for gun users without providing specifics.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan noted Trump said the same thing about gun reform after other mass shootings and has done nothing.

“The distractions he comes up with, it’s immigration, it’s video games,” said Ryan of Howland, D-13th. “It’s not about hunting. It’s about people getting their hands on guns that can kill nine people in 30 seconds,” which happened Sunday in Dayton. A day earlier, a gunman killed 21 people in El Paso.

“We have to do something,” Ryan said. “It’s ridiculous. The level of anxiety across the country is so high. This needs to change.”

Trump also said there needs to be mental health gun control and called for the death penalty for mass murderers while saying the internet and violent video games are partly to blame for the mass shootings.

Ryan said there are two House-approved bills requiring universal background checks on all firearm sales sitting in the Senate and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, needs to call that legislative body back into session and pass them.

Ryan also criticized Trump for erroneously referring to Dayton as “Toledo,” which happened at the end of his prepared remarks.

Trump is “showing signs of not remembering things and not paying attention,” Ryan said. “He’s not focused. There’s some issue there. All he says lately is: ‘I don’t remember. I don’t recall.’”

On Twitter, Ryan was more blunt. He used a shortened version of the f-word in response.

Ryan has been in Dayton since Sunday night and plans to stay until today or Wednesday.

Ryan said he went to Dayton because “people are heartbroken and enraged. And when tragedies happen it’s important for leaders to show up,” he said. “I’m here to grieve and let everyone know that we will mobilize to bring the change to America that people are demanding.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, said: “President Trump said ‘mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.’ He’s right. He’s also right to say that ‘hate has no place in America.’”

Johnson said that while “generally, the murder rate is down nationwide,” mass shootings over the past decade have increased. FBI statistics show violent crime has declined 49 percent between 1993 and 2017.

“We all must work together to stop this outbreak of violence on America’s streets,” Johnson said. “It’s a hard truth, but it’s not going to be solved by one politician or one political party. It’s going to take everyone.”

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, also said McConnell needs to call the Senate back into session and pass legislation approved by the House to require universal background checks on all firearm sales.

“There is no reason one man should have been able to kill nine people in Dayton and injure dozens more in less than a minute,” Brown said. “We need to get weapons of war off of our streets and vote immediately in the Senate on commonsense background checks that the House of Representatives already passed. We can’t do that until President Trump and Washington Republicans stop working for the NRA and start working to keep our communities safe. People don’t have to keep dying and we have the power to stop it. This isn’t a Republican issue or a Democratic issue, this is about keeping America safe.”

While Brown said he “was glad to see the president finally say that we must speak in one voice to condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy,” he added that Trump “must lead by example and end his hate speech that emboldens white nationalists and instead work to bring the country together.”

His Republican counterpart, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, of the Cincinnati-area, said, “I agree with [Trump] that there is more we can do to try and keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and both parties should work together towards this goal.”

Portman said he supports red-flag laws “to get guns out of the hands of those who pose a danger to others while ensuring there is due process for all involved.”

Youngstown Police Chief Robin Lees said assault weapons present a unique challenge to patrol officers because of their increased range and accuracy.

Lees said in any kind of situation where officers may come up against an assault rifle, they also have to figure out the best place to take cover because rounds from an assault rifle have a greater power of penetration.

Officers also have access to assault weapons of their own if needed.

An assault weapon was used in the April 9 shooting death of Savon Young, 25, on Tod Lane. Young was killed during a gun battle where police collected over 40 shell casings from three different weapons, including an assault weapon.

In the triple Nov. 7, 2018, homicide of Edward Morris, 21; Valarica Blair, 19; and their 1-month-old baby Tariq Blair at Pasadena Avenue and Gibson Street an assault was also one of the two weapons used.

Statistics show the vice squad seized five assault weapons in 2016; eight in 2017; and three in 2018. Statistics for the patrol division are not available.

Contributor: Staff writer Joe Gorman