By Neil Doyle
BLOOMINGTON – After mass shootings over the weekend in Texas and Ohio, a Central Illinois lawmaker said focusing only on firearms won’t solve the problem.
Congressman Rodney Davis spoke with WJBC’s Scott Miller and Katherine Murphy. He said a lot more needs to be done at the federal level, but the issue is not just guns.
“If you only want to focus on the firearm side of the equation, then we’re not going to actually solve the problems that get us to the point where we are in this country. These two shootings, in one the person said he didn’t like immigrants, that’s tragic. How do you not like any human being. In the Dayton shooting it was reported that this person had a fascination with killing,” said Davis.
Davis added that federally there should be a fusion center so that departments can better work together to prevent shootings. He said more money needs to go towards programs so local school districts can have mental health professionals.
“We also need to do more to change the red flag laws so that we know at the federal level if someone is a threat to themselves those firearms can be taken away so that they aren’t a threat anymore,” Davis said.
The shootings in El Paso and Dayton killed over 30 people.
Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]
