In the wake of a mass killing in Maine that has seen 18 confirmed deaths, Gov. Ron DeSantis says it's not the guns that cause mass shootings in America.
Rather, the 2024 presidential candidate is contending blame should be placed on "soft on crime" judges.
"A lot of the guys who commit violent crime and yes, less than what we saw in Maine, a lot of these people go in and out of the justice system because of liberal, soft on crime policies. You do a crime, you should do the time. Stop cycling people back out, that will make communities safer," DeSantis said Friday morning on "Fox and Friends."
Florida, of course, has not been free of mass shootings. From the Pulse massacre of 2018 that saw 49 casualties to a more recent racist murder of three people at a Jacksonville Dollar General, it's clear that even in a state without "liberal" policies, mass murders happen.
The Governor's arguments came as DeSantis argued against an assault weapons ban proposed by President Joe Biden, who DeSantis called a "fierce opponent of the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens" who sees mass murders not as tragedies with policy solutions but as a "pretext to advance an agenda."
Biden wants a "bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers."
For DeSantis, such restrictions are simply a way to "nuke the rights of every law abiding citizen."
Meanwhile, this interview was just the latest in a series of exculpatory remarks for the gun industry and enthusiasts in the wake of the Lewiston slaughter.
During an interview on CNN Thursday evening, the Florida Governor argued for a "involuntary commitment" of indeterminate length and not "red flag" laws as the mechanism that would have stopped Robert Card, the U.S. Army Reservist who authorities say shot up a bowling alley before heading to a nearby bar to shoot at more people on Wednesday.
DeSantis also posted on X Thursday on the subject, arguing that the mass murder in Maine "could be another example of a failure of our nation's mental health system."
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