https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/markwayne-mullin-gunc-ontrol-highland-park-shooting/2022/07/05/id/1077408/By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 05 July 2022 01:59 PM EDT
Enacting more gun control laws after the Independence Day shootings at the Highland Park, Illinois, holiday parade is not the right way to go, as you "can't legislate crazy criminals out of existence," Rep. Markwayne Mullin said on Newsmax on Tuesday.
"By saying the first thing we have to do is get stronger on gun control, that's only going to go after the law-abiding citizens," the Oklahoma Republican said on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "How about we just focus on criminals and get tough on what we've seen? We've seen crime run rampant since this administration got empowered."
Highland Park has strict laws against assault-style rifles, but Mayor Nancy Rotering said Tuesday that the gun used in the mass shooting Monday was "legally obtained."
"This administration got in power by saying, Defund the police," Mullin said. "You can see blue cities all across the country. They have rampant criminals and criminal activity going on throughout their states. You see the highest gun activity and crimes in cities that had the strictest gun laws.
"Obviously, it's not working. But the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and that's exactly what this administration is doing."
Rotering would not comment on the matter of mental health in connection with accused shooter Robert Crimo III, 22, and Mullin said that reaction shows the typical "out of touch" mentality of the left with mental illness.
"How do you overlook it?" said Mullin. "You just want to go to gun control and say that's going to solve the issue. When you start looking at Highland Park and you start seeing exactly what type of gun control they already had in place, obviously it doesn't work. That's just the mayor, not understanding what's actually happening in the world today."
President Joe Biden on Monday, while speaking about the shootings, said he believes the country is more united than it is divided, but Mullin said the president "doesn't make any sense at all."
"I am so tired of listening to him talk," Mullin said. "When he's talking, they try to put him on PowerPoint, and anytime it goes off the PowerPoint, it doesn't make any sense.
"The people that are writing this speech are obviously out of touch with what's going on … any time this president speaks, you cringe because he is not about uniting the country. He's about giving out a message that isn't resonating with the rest of the people. That's why you see this large red wave coming in November."
